The BBC, Channel 4 and ITN logged on to Bebo, Britain’s leading social network, yesterday in an attempt to reach 13 to 24-year-olds.

The broadcasters hope Bebo’s 10.8 million British visitors a month will share and recommend clips to help boost viewing figures.

They want to replicate the success Bebo had with Kate Modern, a web-on-ly mystery drama watched 25 million times.

Joanne Shields, European president of Bebo, said social networks were capturing a “lost generation of television viewers”. Bebo is the most used social networking website in Britain, with young visitors spending more than five hours a month online.

The BBC plans to release hundreds of clips, such as Ricky Gervais making a nervous pitch on Dragon’s Den.

ITN is reinventing its news offering, creating new showbusiness, sport and archive channels. Channel 4 is uploading material from Skins, The Friday Night Project and Shameless, but for full programmes, viewers will be directed to its website.

Founded by Michael Birch, a Briton, and his Californian wife Xochi in January 2005, Bebo is marginally ahead of Facebook in Britain and boasts 40 million users worldwide.

In September, Facebook had 10.2 million users. MySpace, owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Times, had 9.9 million users.

Bebo hopes it can stay ahead by becoming a popular cultural destination. “I think of Facebook as like a Blackberry and Bebo as like an iPod and there are people who have both,” Ms Shields said. While MySpace is popular with musicians, media content on Facebook is far more limited.

Bebo has had to allow broadcasters free access and they will retain all money generated from advertising.

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