NBCU takes over Sprout

NBCUniversal is ramping up its presence in children’s broadcasting after acquiring full ownership of kids’ channel Sprout.

The Comcast-owned firm has bought out the network’s other owners PBS and Hit Television Ventures, a move that C21 last year revealed was likely. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Sprout will now be part of NBCU’s cable entertainment division and its chairman, Bonnie Hammer, said she saw “enormous potential” in the network.

“We are committed to our investment in the kids and family arena,” said Hammer. “This acquisition furthers our strategy to create and deliver the very best content across all of our audiences.”

The channel, originally called PBS Kids Sprout, was launched in 2005 as a joint venture between PBS, Comcast, Hit Entertainment and Sesame Workshop. NBCU bought out the latter’s stake in December.

Sprout now reaches 60 million homes and includes shows such as Sesame Street and original series The Chica Show. Execs at the network also work on a three-hour kids programming block for NBC, which launched last year.

The move to own the entirety of Sprout is the latest decision from Hammer who recently decided to end Style Network and replace it with new channel Esquire.