Zai Bennett

Comedy is key to keeping youthful BBC3 audience happy

"I can't overstate the importance of comedy" says BBC Three controller Zai Bennett. "If you get comedy right it can define your channel."

BBC Three feeding more funny

Today we announced a raft of new comedy commissions for BBC Three and as well as a number of TV series, there's a major new investment to develop original comedy with six full pilots for a new online initiative the Comedy Kitchen.

Johnny Vegas blasts BBC3 exec over 'Ideal' axe

Johnny Vegas has hit out at BBC Three controller Zai Bennett over the axing of his sitcom Ideal earlier this year.

ITV2 has axed university comedy drama series Trinity after one series. The eight-part series, which starred Christian Cooke and Reggie Yates, opened to 596k viewers last September.

"We wanted to try something different but it didn't work," an insider told The Sun. Speaking in August, the controller of ITV2 and acquisitions Zai Bennett praised the programme but said that ratings had not matched expectations for the expensive drama.

"It did really well, half a million as an average," he said. "But that's not quite enough to bring it back. It's a terribly expensive show - £3 or £4 million out of what is overall a small budget."