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==History==
When it started in 1946, the Third Programme broadcast for six hours each evening from 6.00pm to midnight, although its output was cut to just 24 hours a week from October 1957, with the early part of weekday evenings being given over to educational programming (known as "Network Three"). The frequencies were also used during daytime hours to broadcast complete ball-by-ball commentary on [[Test cricket|test match cricket]], under the title ''Test Match Special''.
This situation continued until the launch on 22 March 1965, of the BBC Music Programme, which began regular daily broadcasts of [[classical music]] (with some interruptions for live sports coverage) on the Network Three/Third Programme frequencies between 7.00am and 6.30pm on weekdays, 8.00am and 12.30pm on Saturdays, and 8.00am and 5.00pm on Sundays. The Third Programme continued as a distinct evening service, and this continued to be the case for a short while after the inception of [[BBC Radio 3|Radio 3]] in 1967, before all the elements of the BBC's "third network" were finally absorbed into Radio 3 with rebranding effect from Saturday 4 April 1970.▼
The Third's existence was controversial from the beginning, partly because of perceived "elitism" – it was sometimes criticised for broadcasting programmes of "two [[Academia|dons]] talking" – and also for the cost of its output relative to a small listener [[reach (advertising)|reach]]. Its existence was against Reithian principles, as [[John Reith, 1st Baron Reith|Reith]] himself had, during his time at the BBC, been against segmenting audiences by splitting programming genres across different networks. From the start, though, it had prominent supporters: the [[Secretary of State for Education and Skills|Education Secretary]] in the [[Clement Attlee|Attlee]] government, [[Ellen Wilkinson]], spoke rather optimistically of creating a "third programme nation". When it faced those 1957 cuts, the Third Programme Defence Society was formed and its leaders included [[T. S. Eliot]], [[Albert Camus]], and [[Laurence Olivier|Sir Laurence Olivier]].
▲This situation continued until the launch on 22 March 1965
===Output and programming===▼
The network was broadly cultural, a [[F.R. Leavis|Leavisite]] experiment dedicated to the discerning or "high-brow" listener from an educated, minority audience. Its founders' aims were seen as promoting "something fundamental to our civilisation" and as contributing to "the refinement of society".<ref>{{cite book |last=Carpenter |first=Humphrey |date=1996 |title=The Envy of the World: Fifty Years of the Third Programme and Radio Three |publisher=[[Weidenfeld and Nicolson]] |___location=London |isbn=0-7538-0250-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oYLHQgAACAAJ |via=[[Google Books]]}}.</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2020}} Its musical output provided a wide range of serious [[classical music]] and live concerts, as well as contemporary composers and [[jazz]]; popular classical music such as [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]], [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] and [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]] primarily remained on the [[BBC Home Service|Home Service]] until 1964. Voice formed a much higher proportion of its output than the later Radio 3, with specially commissioned plays, poetry readings, talks and documentaries. Nationally known intellectuals such as [[Bertrand Russell]] and [[Isaiah Berlin]] on philosophy or [[Fred Hoyle]] on cosmology were regular contributors.
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The decision to close down the Third Programme was opposed by many within the BBC, some of them senior figures. Within the music division, a 'BBC rebellion' gathered force, with its most vocal members including [[Hans Keller]] and [[Robert Simpson (composer)|Robert Simpson]]. Ultimately, however, the attempt to prevent the culture-conscious Third being replaced by what Keller called "a daytime music station" proved unsuccessful.{{fact|date=February 2020}}
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* [[George Barnes (BBC controller)|George Barnes]] (1946–1948)
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* Patrick Butler
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* [[BBC Radio]]
* [[Timeline of the BBC]]
▲* [[Timeline of BBC Radio 3]]
* [[List of BBC radio stations]]
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