ITV to close CITV as new children's streaming platform launched

ITV’s children’s channel will close this year as the broadcaster announced the launch of a dedicated streaming platform for young people.

ITVX Kids will go live this summer, rolling out across the school holidays with more content than ever before.

From the autumn, ITV will be moving to streaming-only for content aimed at children aged six to 12.

As a result, the CITV broadcast channel will close.

CITV (Children’s ITV) launched on January 3, 1983, as a block of programmes on the network.

In 2006, CITV launched as a channel in its own right.

It was home to beloved shows like Art Attack, originally hosted by Neil Buchanan from 1990 to 2007.

ZZZap!, based around a giant 18 foot comic brought to life, also aired on CITV, as did iconic educational show How 2 – which ran for 16 years.

Others included, the animated series of Mr Bean, Thunderbirds Are Go, Teen Titans Go!, and Inspector Gadget.

ITV said the move was in response to the changing ways children and their parents are accessing content.

BARB viewing data demonstrates that while the average amount of broadcast TV minutes of kids TV channels watched by four to 15-year-olds per week has declined by -62% since 2019.

However, ITV will maintain the LittleBe pre-school segment on ITVBe and will offer some children’s content in the early mornings on ITV2 from September.

The Kids ITVX homepage will host more than 100 titles with more than 1,000 hours of programming spanning comedy, gameshows, live action, animation and sport.

Existing favourites include Lloyd of the Flies, Lily’s Driftwood Bay, Claude, Mumfie, Mystery Lane and The Rubbish World of Dave Spud.

It will also have some much-loved British shows, including the animated series of Mr Bean, and for younger pre-school children, TeleTubbies Let’s Go, Sooty and Bob The Builder.

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.”