BBC to Pull the Plug on 3D TV With 'Doctor Who' Special

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By Todd Wasserman2013-07-05 15:01:54 UTC

Following in the footsteps of ESPN, which recently announced its intention to curtail its 3D programming at the end of the year, the BBC will do the same, though a special celebrating 50 years of Doctor Who will make it under the wire.

Kim Shillinglaw, the BBC’s head of 3D, told Radio Times that the UK media giant plans to take a three-year break from 3D programming.

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“I have never seen a very big appetite for 3D television in the UK," she told the publication. “Watching 3D is quite a hassly experience in the home. You have got to find your glasses before switching on the TV. I think when people watch TV they concentrate in a different way. When people go to the cinema they go and are used to doing one thing –- I think that’s one of the reasons that take up of 3D TV has been disappointing.”

An estimated 1.5 million UK households have 3D TVs. Only about half of those watched Olympics programming in 3D. Other 3D programming has been similarly ignored by viewers.

A November Doctor Who special and a natural history program will and the BBC's current experiment with 3D.

Image via Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Topics: 3D TV, BBC, Business, ESPN, Media, World