Plans to take BBC Three off-air have been approved by the BBC Trust, although the body has rejected proposals for a BBC plus one channel.
The BBC Executive wants to move BBC Three - which has been home to shows from Gavin And Stacey and Cuckoo, to Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents - online to cut costs.
In its provisional conclusions outlined today, the Trust said that it had some "clear concerns" about the short-term impact of the change, including "a potential impact on the ability of the BBC to try out new ideas and develop new talent".
In the short term, the online channel would be likely to lose viewers, having a "much smaller audience than the broadcast channel it is replacing".
But it said that the plans should be approved, as the online service would save £30m (€42m) a year and be more distinctive than the current BBC Three channel, whose audience is falling.
It said that the move should be dependent only on the Executive agreeing to several conditions, including clearer commitments to shows on BBC1 and/or BBC2 which appeal to younger audiences.
The announcement is bad news for campaigners who have battled to keep BBC3 alive as a TV channel and have called the move "disastrous" for the fostering of "new talent" and "innovative ideas".
Jimmy Mulville, who runs production company Hat-Trick, behind hit shows including Room 101, Father Ted and Have I Got News For You, has said the proposed move online would be "the kiss of death" for the channel and leave it "competing with huge behemoths like Netflix and Amazon who are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on one show".
The Trust said that it recognised that there could be a "risk that (the online channel) may have less appeal to producers, writers and actors, impacting the shows that are commissioned."
After today's judgment, a further 28-day consultation period will take place with the Trust before a final decision is made later this year, and the channel could close as early as January.
The Trust said that the BBC would need to agree to conditions to mitigate against the short term loss of younger audiences.
