In the latest part of the evolution of its streaming hub, leading UK commercial broadcaster ITV has announced the launch of a new dedicated destination for kids on ITVX launching in July 2023 and rolling out across the school summer holiday period.
The new ITVX Kids will launch with more kids’ content than offered before, across a range of titles appealing to both school age and pre-school age children. ITVX Kids is part of what the broadcaster says is its continuing drive to supercharge its presence in streaming, delivering content to audiences however they want to watch it. It cited BARB viewing data showomg that while the average amount of broadcast TV minutes of kids TV channels watched by 4-15 year olds per week has declined by 62% since 2019, unmatched viewing has risen by 30% in the same period, demonstrating the streaming first trend in kids viewing.
As a consequence of its new streaming approach, and in what it says a response to the changing ways children and their parents are increasingly accessing content, ITV will close its CITV broadcast channel in early Autumn, once the new streaming destination for kids has been rolled out across platforms and devices, over the summer holidays. The new consolidated children’s offering will also see ITV taking its approach to 6-12s content, streaming-only, from early Autumn 2023.
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 with strong cross promotion to ITVX.
The Kids ITVX home page will bring together over 100 brilliant titles in a dedicated homepage, with over 1000 hours of programming to choose from, a near doubling of the current offer, with curated rails and collections. The curated collections will feature a range of titles, including new programmes dropping monthly on the service, from July 2023. This new content will span a wide-range of genres and subjects including comedy, gameshows, live action, animation and sport and sourced from a broad spectrum of distributors from small Independents as well as regional UK suppliers.
“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,” remarked ITVX managing editor Craig Morris. “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.”
New shows will complement existing favourites, including Lloyd of the Flies, Lily’s Driftwood Bay, Claude, Mumfie, Mystery Lane and The Rubbish World of Dave Spud, which will also be available on ITVX Kids. Brand new episodes of The Rubbish World of Dave Spud are commissioned for broadcast in 2024 and they will be premiered on ITVX. ITVX Kids will also have some much-loved British brands, including the animated series of Mr Bean, and for younger pre-school children, TeleTubbies Let's Go, Sooty and Bob The Builder amongst other titles.
As a consequence of its new streaming approach, and in what it says a response to the changing ways children and their parents are increasingly accessing content, ITV will close its CITV broadcast channel in early Autumn, once the new streaming destination for kids has been rolled out across platforms and devices, over the summer holidays. The new consolidated children’s offering will also see ITV taking its approach to 6-12s content, streaming-only, from early Autumn 2023.
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 with strong cross promotion to ITVX.
The Kids ITVX home page will bring together over 100 brilliant titles in a dedicated homepage, with over 1000 hours of programming to choose from, a near doubling of the current offer, with curated rails and collections. The curated collections will feature a range of titles, including new programmes dropping monthly on the service, from July 2023. This new content will span a wide-range of genres and subjects including comedy, gameshows, live action, animation and sport and sourced from a broad spectrum of distributors from small Independents as well as regional UK suppliers.
“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,” remarked ITVX managing editor Craig Morris. “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.”
New shows will complement existing favourites, including Lloyd of the Flies, Lily’s Driftwood Bay, Claude, Mumfie, Mystery Lane and The Rubbish World of Dave Spud, which will also be available on ITVX Kids. Brand new episodes of The Rubbish World of Dave Spud are commissioned for broadcast in 2024 and they will be premiered on ITVX. ITVX Kids will also have some much-loved British brands, including the animated series of Mr Bean, and for younger pre-school children, TeleTubbies Let's Go, Sooty and Bob The Builder amongst other titles.
