Staff at BBC Children’s Salford HQ may have one eye on the competition following Sky’s announcement that it is to launch a new linear kids’ TV channel, particularly in light of plans to take CBBC’s content to streaming only by 2025.
Lucy Murphy, director of kids content at Sky said: “We’re so excited to announce the launch of our brand-new linear channel. Millions of our customers already love watching our huge range of Original shows on-demand but families with younger kids have told us that watching on linear channels is an important part of their day, so we’ve listened and expanded our Sky Kids offering at no extra cost.
“The new channel will have a whole breadth of brand new and much-loved shows for kids and families to enjoy and we can’t wait to reveal the full fantastic line-up of shows.”
The channel’s content will be aimed at kids up to seven and span themes of learning and doing, arts and crafts, music, dance and fitness, and much more, with a raft of brand-new Sky Originals set to air.
These include Fearne Cotton executive producing My Friend Misty (age five to seven), which sees animated character Misty set out to build kids’ emotional resilience. Misty surprises a group of children in the show with magical visits, helping them to deal with their feelings both good and bad by providing a series of tips and practical exercises to support them in difficult situations.
Also launching next year as a new Sky Original is Ready, Eddie, Go! (age three+), based on the loveable character Eddie who is autistic. We see him taken step by step through new experiences and situations such as a trip to the barbers, so when he encounters this in real life, he’s ready to go! The animated series is based on the Eddie’s Stories books, written by award-winning author Nikki Saunders who is well-known in the special educational needs community and whose eldest son is autistic.
Kids will also be treated to franchise favourites such as Trolls: TrollsTopia, Where’s Wally, Madagascar, LEGO and Clifford The Big Red Dog; new learning shows such as 123 Number Squad and some of the most-loved existing Sky Kids Originals such as MC Grammar: Wonder Raps and Pip and Posy.
The full line-up of shows will be announced soon.
The new linear channel will be seamlessly integrated into the Sky Kids package, which already offers 10,000 episodes of kids’ content on demand and a variety of partner channels such as Nick Jr., Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. There will be no extra cost for customers with the existing Sky Kids package. Other existing Sky customers can upgrade to the Sky Kids package for £6 a month, while NOW members can sign up to the Entertainment package for £9.99 monthly.
