Nasfim Haque BBC3 content chief tells why being away from W1 helps her understand young audiences
3 October 2024
In an interview with Broadcast, Nasfim Haque said she believes she has a “healthy perspective” on the world thanks to her everyday environment
Nasfim Haque and Tir Dhondy (right) in Hunting the Rolex Rippers
BBC3’s head of content has said being based in Birmingham helps her understand what matters to her target audience of ordinary young people.
“We’ve all done the London stint, where you’re surrounded by lots of telly people all the time, to the point where you might even meet and marry someone from the industry,” she said.
“Birmingham is an incredibly young, minority diverse-driven city. Whenever I come out of the Mailbox, the first thing I see is young people sitting in Nandos, scrolling on their phones as they eat their bean burgers. I’m not surrounded by the same matcha latte drinkers – my world is completely different.”
She said being near young people in this way – and seeing how they interact with the media – serves as a constant reminder to think about how BBC3 content might resonate with them.
“I have a healthy perspective because I’m not sat in W1. It makes me hungrier to make sure BBC3 is relevant and part of that real young experience across the UK. We are a truly out of London operation and long may that continue as we scour for the best stories, voices, faces and places from across the UK,” she added.
Range and distance
Haque has headed up the channel for around 18 months, working in close collaboration with Belfast-based controller of youth audiences Fiona Campbell. The former BBC3 interim channel editor suggested that her focus for the coming year will be on finding a variety of content and talent – something she has already been pushing to do. She pointed to the disparity of recent commissions including Ashley Cain: Into the Danger Zone, from True North in association with House of Panthera, and Waddell Media’s We Built a Zoo.
“We’ll follow TikToker Kyle Thomas as he sets up a Zoo in his back yard, while Ashley Cain will take us into some of the darkest underbellies around the world. These shows demonstrate that we are staying strong on bringing out a range of voices and experiences,” she said.
Cain’s series also demonstrates a push for more stories from around the world, she suggested.
“In the old days we had lots more international series with the likes of Stacey [Dooley] and Reggie [Yates]. Of course, we have focused a lot more on British and local stories - particularly since Covid - but we know our audience cares deeply about what is going on around the world so it is important we have some longer-form pieces that fuel that interest.”
Haque namechecked journalists including The Dangerous Rise of Andrew Tate presenter Matt Shea and Hunting The Rolex Rippers presenter Tir Dhondy, saying she is “excited to see what else [she] can do with them”.
“They are exciting because they’re not cookie-cut journalists,” she said. “They are very true to themselves and amazingly strong when it comes to holding people to account and taking us into dark spaces.”
She also wants to discover more new voices and give them their first breaks on BBC3, saying that is always “at the forefront” of her mind.
“Sometimes I think we are too modest about the fact that we place people who have never presented before on some of our biggest shows, like Leomie Anderson as presenter of Glow Up and Charley Marlowe as the narrator of I Kissed A Girl. Their careers will only get bigger thanks to the start we’ve given them.”
Working with small indies
During tough times for the industry, Haque is “proud” that a BBC3 credit is still “sought after” and the channel is proving to be something of a lifeline for smaller indies.
The BBC3 content chief rejoined the BBC in 2017 after a stint as a docs commissioner at Channel 4. She pointed to the fact that both she and Campbell have worked on the channel for several years and have each led on digital and short-form commissioning, making them “familiar” figures for many less-established creatives.
“I’m always heartened by the number of suppliers who email us to say, ‘We don’t know anyone else but you, so can we arrange a meeting?’ That is precisely what we should be doing; we’re hungry to meet creatives we know and creatives we don’t.”
She added: “I appreciate it’s tough out there, but we like that challenge of seeing what we can do about it, and who else we can work with.”
Haque spoke to Broadcast ahead of the commission of the latest docuseries from BBC3 regular Zara McDermott, who will explore the issue of stalking in a two-parter produced by Chatterbox.
Reproduced with kind permission from Broadcast where it was published on 30 September