These ratings by BARB, the official ratings agency, average out BBC Three's viewing figures over a 24-hour period even though the channel only broadcasts in the evening, giving a distorted sense of the channel's viewership.
Jimmy Mulville and Jon Thoday of independent production companies Hat Trick Productions and Avalon reportedly considered legal action against the Trust if it went ahead with the closure of the channel.
BBC Three signed off during the early morning of 16 February 2016.
The Trust also approved related proposals to allow first-run and third-party content on i Player, as well as extend CBBC's broadcast day to p.m.
The BBC One timeshift service was rejected, citing "limited public value".
BBC Three's programming consisted of comedy, drama, spin-off series and repeated episodes of series from BBC One and BBC Two, and other programmes that attempted to alert others of their actions through a series of programmes challenging common beliefs.
An example of BBC Three's comedy output includes the award-winning comedy Little Britain, which in October 2004 broke its previous viewing record when 1.8 million viewers tuned in for a new series.
In 2008 it reached 26.3% of 16–34-year-olds in digital homes—the channel's highest ever such reach and above that of E4, ITV2, Dave and Sky 1.
and it had a 2.6% share of the 15–34-year-old audience and 1.4% of the whole population, according to the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB).
These changes formed part of a package of proposals from the BBC, including extending CBBC's hours, respending £30m on BBC One audiences for drama, and launching a one-hour timeshift channel of BBC One.