ITVX set to be new destination for kids’ programming, linear CITV channel to close

Children’s animation The Rubbish World of Dave Spud

UK commercial broadcaster ITV will shut down its linear children’s channel CITV in early autumn, after launching a kids’ offering on streaming platform ITVX this summer.

The news comes after UK pubcaster the BBC announced plans last year to close its linear children’s channel CBBC in response to declining linear viewing figures as many children migrate online.

Instead, ITV is launching a children’s offering on its recently launched streaming platform ITVX. ITVX Kids will launch in July and roll out across the school summer holiday period.

ITV said the ITVX Kids homepage will be accessed within a child-safe ITVX Kids profile and will bring together over 100 shows and over 1,000 hours of programming, nearly doubling its current offer.

Curated collections will feature a wide range of shows, including brand-new programmes dropping monthly on the service. Content will span genres and subjects including comedy, gameshows, live action, animation and sport, and will be sourced from a broad spectrum of distributors from small independents to regional UK suppliers.

The new shows will join existing series like Lloyd of the Flies, Lily’s Driftwood Bay, Claude, Mumfie, Mystery Lane and The Rubbish World of Dave Spud. Brand new episodes of The Rubbish World of Dave Spud are commissioned for launch in 2024 and will premiere on ITVX Kids.

ITVX Kids will also feature much-loved British brands including the animated series of Mr Bean, TeleTubbies Let’s Go, Sooty and Bob the Builder.

Commissions that ITV was able to greenlight with funding from the BFI Young Audiences Content Fund will also be available on ITVX Kids. These include Makeaway Takeaway, HOW, The Sound Collector and Happy the Hoglet.

ITV aims for 100% of content to be subtitled on ITVX Kids, with around 20% of content audio-described. The offering will also include British Sign Language original programming such as Mission Employable and Daremaster, produced by Signpost Productions.

CITV will close after ITVX Kids has been fully rolled out. However, the LittleBe preschool segment on linear channel ITVBe will remain, while some children’s content will be available in the early mornings on ITV2 from September with strong cross promotion to ITVX.

Craig Morris, managing editor of ITVX, said: “We’re really excited to launch this dedicated destination for kids on ITVX, which will be home to a wealth of content including new series, recognisable brands and existing favourites for a range of ages, all in one child-safe area, with editorial curation to guide viewing. The wealth of content will be available to stream for free, with the option for parents to choose ad-free viewing, through a subscription to ITVX Premium.”