CBBC is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 5 to 11. Its sister channel, CBeebies, is aimed at younger children aged 4 and under. It broadcasts every day from 7:00am to 7:00pm, timesharing with BBC Three.
History[]
Launched on 11 February 2002 alongside its sister channel CBeebies, the name was previously used to brand all content on BBC One and BBC Two aimed at children. CBBC was named the Channel of the Year at the Children's BAFTA awards in 2008, 2012, and 2015. The channel averages 300,000 views per day.
The channel broadcasts from 7:00AM-7:00PM, seven days per week and from the launch of the channel until 8 February 2003 it timeshared with BBC Choice. From 9 February 2003, the channel timeshares with BBC Three due to the closure of BBC Choice. On 22 August 2008, it was announced that the channel would be available live on its website from 16 September. CBBC's reach further expanded with the addition of the channel on Sky in Ireland on 12 May 2011. The British Forces Broadcasting Service have provided viewers with CBBC and CBeebies since 1 April 2013, when they replaced BFBS Kids.
From 11 April 2016 until 4 January 2022, CBBC's broadcast hours were extended by two hours to 9:00PM due to the hiatus of BBC Three as a linear channel. It was stated that the additional hours would be used to provide programming for teenagers.
On 2 March 2021, ahead of the relaunch of BBC Three as a broadcast channel, it was announced that CBBC's broadcast hours would be reduced by two hours. From 5 January 2022, the channel now closes down for the day at 7:00PM and timeshares with BBC Three once again, as was the case prior to the 2016 relaunch.
On 15 March 2023, CBBC rebranded its on-screen bug and identity to match the BBC's 2021 logo, dropping the 2016 logo which had been used for seven years.
Proposed closure of the channel[]
On 26 May 2022, the BBC announced plans for CBBC and BBC Four to be discontinued as a linear television service in 2025 as part of cutbacks and other changes focusing on creating a "digital-first" BBC. Under the plan, CBBC would exclusively operate as a content hub on iPlayer, as BBC Three had done before it was relaunched in 2022.
Management[]
Along with CBeebies, CBBC is operated by the BBC Children's and Education department. BBC Children's was originally based in the East Tower of BBC Television Centre since the department's inception, but moved to MediaCityUK in Salford in September 2011, and the live presentation links used throughout the day are now recorded and broadcast from there.
Programming[]
CBBC's programming output is very similar to the strand previously shown on BBC One. CBBC often complements this strand with programmes shown earlier than on the terrestrial channels, repeats, or whole series shown in a day, alongside other exclusive commissions.
Educational programming[]
As part of CBBC's original remit, CBBC needed to show 1,000 hours of factual and schools programmes per year. The service managed this by introducing Class TV, which would air educational programming for two hours each day in the late morning, with normal programming resuming in the early afternoon. Much of this programming was old BBC Schools programming shown, in some cases, decades before and which was for the most part still relevant. Very little new schools programmes were commissioned. Class TV ended in March 2008, following a change to CBBC's remit. However, in December 2019, CBBC brought back Class TV with 'Live Lessons' presented by the CBBC presenting team on late weekday mornings.
During the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of schools around the country, CBBC broadcast educational programming for primary school children. This included a mixture of programmes which were new or they aired on CBBC many years before, with a focus on learning as well as newly recorded content. It was hoped that this might help children without the financial means to participate in lessons over the internet.
Presentation[]
CBBC has had a relatively similar presentation to that of its strand counterpart. The logo has consistently remained the same until 2016 as the service; green coloured blobs at the beginning of its life and the green and white logo used from September 2007 to March 2016. The logo used from March 2016 to March 2023 is multicoloured unlike its predecessor. The current logo has returned to being fully green. CBBC has mainly utilised presenters from the main service, with a few presenters appearing mostly on the new channel; Gemma Hunt and Anne Foy being notable examples and appearing consistently until August 2007. At the beginning of September 2007, along with the relaunch, the same presenters of CBBC would also feature on CBBC on BBC One and Two.
When CBBC launched, presentation was located in TC2 at BBC Television Centre, where the channel shared studio facilities with CBBC's original magazine show Xchange. This changed in autumn 2004, when CBBC moved to TC9 following the normal CBBC links move to TC10; however, this was changed in March 2006 so that all CBBC and CBBC channel links were located in TC9. A further change was to take place in December 2006 when all output moved to a Chroma key set within TC12, and was presented by only one presenter. This short live decision lasted until the relaunch in 2007, which involved a new 'office' set being constructed, initially in TC12 and later in a new studio facility in the East Tower of Television Centre.
In 2011, CBBC moved to television studios HQ5 and HQ6 at Dock10 studios in MediaCityUK, and has been presented from there since September 2011. The Office has been through a number of revamps since then, two in 2015, the first one being a minor change because of the Go CBBC app, and another one in May which entirely changed some of the structure, adding a post chute and an Up Next screen, one in 2016 due to CBBC's new look, gaining a smaller desk, an extra Up Next screen, and being renamed as CBBC HQ, and one in 2023, following CBBC's rebrand, in which the logo, the desk, and the studio's color scheme were updated.
International versions[]
Australia[]
On 15 March 2021, it was announced by Australian provider Fetch TV that they would launch a channel called "BBC Kids" (unrelated to a Canadian BBC-branded channel of the same name) on 24 April 2021 to replace Cartoon Network and Boomerang. It is essentially a version of CBBC for the country, as it is aimed at the same target audience as CBBC and airs children's programmes from the BBC Studios catalogue.
United States[]
On 11 January 2022, an American version of BBC Kids launched as a FAST channel on Pluto TV. This version, as is the Australian version, airs children's programming from the BBC Studios catalog, and also airs preschool content from CBeebies as well. A version of the channel that airs Spanish-dubbed programming titled "Niños por BBC" was launched on the same day.