The launch featured appearances by the likes of Justin Timberlake, Johnny Vegas, the 'Fast Show''s Swiss Toni and Christian Slater as an indication of what viewers can expect from the new youth channel, which replaces BBC Choice.
BBC Three will offer a mix of comedy, drama, documentaries, celebrity profiles and news from 7pm. It will also debut new episodes of shows set to appear on BBC Two such as the second series of US hit political thriller '24', starring Kiefer Sutherland who featured on last night's launch.
The channel is being headed up by Stuart Murphy, who previously headed up BBC Choice.
According to Murphy: "It is the only channel aimed at people in their 20s and 30s, which offers a genuinely mixed schedule of quality homegrown programmes -- 90% of the output will be made in the UK."
He added: "In every programme, whether it's science, arts, comedy, current affairs, drama, news, documentaries or animation, it will be BBC Three's job to raise the creative game for this audience."
Among the current affairs programming BBC Three will show is a strand called 'The Third Degree', which features a mix of story-led documentary investigations and analysis. It will also feature entertainment programmes such as 'Celebdaq', an interactive show where viewers buy and sell shares in celebrities based on how many column inches they generate in the week's news.
Lisa Faulkner and former Spice Girl Mel B will star in the series 'Burn It', a Manchester-based drama which addresses the issues of hitting 30. Another programme, 'Jailed by the State', follows journalist David Akinsanya's return to the scene of a crime that saw him end up in borstal.
BBC Three was the last of the BBC's four digital channels to be approved by the government and was delayed for over a year after being criticised as not being distinctive enough from its commercial rivals.
It was finally approved by secretary of state for culture, media and sport Tessa Jowell in September.
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