Street poetry and rap were once held at arm's length by mainstream broadcasters. Almost by definition, they were marginal and anti-establishment.

But this summer, on the tide of commercial success surrounding the controversial star Eminem, network entertainment is to embrace some of the most radical wordsmiths and poets in Britain in a shift that reflects young people's appetite for words - an appetite that is leading them into the previously unappealing and old-fashioned world of poetry.

The BBC's new light channel, BBC3, is to step away from its diet of brash comedy and celebrity-based shows next month to launch Whine Gums, an eight-part poetry show put together by Steve Coogan and Henry Normal, his writing and producing partner. It will bring to the screen for the first time some of the rising stars of street performance, alongside veteran names of live poetry readings.

BBC Radio 4 is airing a series of six late-night programmes called Bespoken Word which will showcase young poets and rappers, as well as Melvin van Peebles, the film-maker who back in the Sixties recorded what is now hailed as the first rap album.

The show's producer, Graham Frost, believes it is time for what he regards as the increasingly bland world of stand-up comedy and pop culture to take a back seat. 'I was a comedy producer, but comedy has become too pat and cloned. Many comedy venues in our cities are struggling. Poetry and rap are entertainment too, of course, but with the strong sense that people are saying something they really believe in. It may have a lower laugh count but it has a higher content count.'

The series will feature Matt Black, a rising black poet, also known as 'shortMAN', whose poem, 'Eat Popcorn, Drink Coca-Cola', attacks homogeneous Western youth culture.

Alan Yentob, the BBC's head of entertainment, is also convinced that the 'dreariness' of much Western pop culture means rap lyrics will continue to have a powerful impact on wider forms of entertainment. 'Things are on a crescendo right now,' said Yentob, referring to the start of Eminem's British tour this weekend. 'The turning point in many ways has been the acceptance and huge popularity of Eminem. It has to be said that even BBC youth radio was resistant to this stuff in the early years, but now with DJs such as Tim Westwood it has become central.'

Yentob, whose BBC1 art show, Imagine, will examine the impact of hip hop this Wednesday night, believes the current creative dominance of street culture relies on the 'authenticity of the lyrics'. He explained: 'I don't believe it promotes violence, but it comes out of violence and that is what makes it ring true. Some of it is good, some of it is bad, and some of it is unacceptable. It is the words that matter, though. If I ask my son why Eminem has credibility, he says it is because he is a poet.'

The black poet, Lemn Sissay, who appears on BBC3's Whine Gums, is delighted by the access it will give to fresh audiences. 'Poetry is part of popular culture now. You find it in the charts and you find lyrics in anthologies, so it should be on television.'

Normal, a former performance poet and stand-up comic, was behind the television series The Royle Family. He describes Whine Gums as a personal crusade. 'It was essential to me that we had poets reading their own work,' he said. 'It is like a singer-songwriter singing their own work, rather than a cover version.'

Normal believes the new popularity of spoken word performance is natural when people are looking for strong ways to communicate, and Frost claims Bespoken Word will make it clear there is a demand for 'content over form in a world where everything is money-orientated and spin-oriented'.

· 'Bespoken Word' is on Radio 4 on Tuesdays at 11pm; 'Whine Gums' starts on BBC3 on 6 July at 10.30pm, and 'Imagine' is on BBC1 at 10.55pm on Wednesday