ITV will be closing its linear CITV channel later this year, as it moves its children’s content to ITVX Kids.
ITVX Kids is set to launch in July over the summer holidays, it will provide streaming-only content for 6-12 year olds.
“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,” said Craig Morris, Managing Editor of ITVX.
“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.”
ITV said that content for children would be streaming-only from November, when it closes its CITV broadcast channel. ITV will maintain its LittleBe pre-school segment on ITVBe and offer some children’s content in the early mornings on ITV2 from September – but with a “strong cross promotion” to ITVX.
ITV argues that BARB viewing data shows that while the average amount of broadcast TV minutes watched by 4-15 year olds has declined 62% since 2019, unmatched viewing has risen 30% in the same period.
“Unmatched” means viewing that BARB can’t recognise, such as gaming, DVDs, SVOD, AVOD and video sharing.
The broadcaster said the move was also part of its drive to “supercharge” its streaming presence.
A new Kids ITVX homepage, accessed within a “child-safe ITVX Kids profile,” will bring together over 100 titles in a dedicated homepage, with over 1000 hours of programming to choose from. This will almost double the current offer.
It said this would include new content sourced from a broad spectrum of distributors from “small Independents as well as regional UK suppliers.”
ITV added that its ambition was for all of its ITVX Kids content to be subtitles, with 20% audio described. It will also include BSL original programming.
The brand CITV has close connections to Manchester. Presentation was based at Granada Television from 2004 for 9 years. It also had a 9-strong creative team based in the city until 2016.
