CITV: Children’s TV channel will close in September following launch of ITVX Kids
Children’s TV channel CITV – loved for kids’ classics including Danger Mouse and Rainbow – will close next month.
It is making way for ITVX Kids, the children’s service on ITV‘s new streaming service ITVX, which launched earlier this summer.
ITV told Sky News: “As a consequence of this new streaming approach and responding to the changing ways children and their parents are increasingly accessing content, the CITV broadcast channel will close after the summer holidays on 1st September.”
Rainbow – with George, Bungle, Zippy and Geoffrey, and Rod, Jane and Freddy, was an ITV Children’s classic. Pic: Fremantle Media/Shutterstock
ITVX replaced ITV Hub in December 2022, with the public service broadcaster making moves to compete with streaming giants including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
Children’s ITV launched in 1983, sitting across weekday late afternoons, with the digital CITV channel following in 2006.
Aimed at kids aged five to 12, some of its best-loved shows include My Parents Are Aliens, Fraggle Rock, The Worst Witch, Children’s Ward, Raggy Dolls, Woof, Art Attack and Horrid Henry.
Classics that have earned cult status over time include Ghost Train, Fun House, Knightmare, Press Gang, Danger Mouse, Trap Door and Count Duckula.
Pre-school hits included Rainbow, Rosie And Jim and Button Moon.
Actor Matthew Kelly was the first presenter on the channel in 1983, appearing in the links between the shows, while much later in 1993, Stephen Mulhern and Danielle Nicholls became the hosts of the channel.
CITV celebrated its 30th anniversary in January, with an “Old Skool” schedule of programmes throughout the weekend.
ITV says ITVX Kids will “supercharge” its presence in streaming, doubling its current kids’ content offering with more than 100 shows and over 1,000 hours of programming – including comedy, gameshows, live action, animation and sport.
It will be aimed at both school-age and pre-school age children, the broadcaster said.
Existing favourites, including Lloyd of the Flies, Lily’s Driftwood Bay, Claude, Mumfie, Mystery Lane and The Rubbish World of Dave Spud, will all be available on ITVX Kids.
The animated series of Mr Bean, Teletubbies Let’s Go, Sooty and Bob The Builder will also be there.
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ITVX has also said the service’s ambition is to have all of its children’s content subtitled, and around 20% of it audio described.
ITV will maintain its LittleBe pre-school segment on ITVBe and will also offer some children’s content in the early mornings on ITV2 from September.
Recent BARB viewing data has shown that while the average amount of broadcast TV minutes of children’s TV channels watched by 4-year-olds per week has declined by 62% since 2019, viewing has risen by 30% in the same period, demonstrating the “streaming first” trend in viewing habits for young people.
The BBC has also announced plans to stop broadcasting its children’s CBBC channel – home to shows including Blue Peter and Newsround – on TV in the future.
Despite the rise in online viewing, some have argued that not all children have access to the internet.
Spending on original kid’s content in the UK has been slashed following the 2006 ban on advertising junk food to children.
The Young Audiences Content Fund – a £44m fund designed to help support children’s programming on channels including ITV and Channel 5 – was scrapped by the government last year.
Thousands of members of actors’ trade union Equity are being asked whether they would support industrial action over artificial intelligence protections.
The organisation has launched an indicative ballot among about 7,000 members working in film and TV.
Performers are being asked whether they are prepared to refuse to be digitally scanned on set in order to secure adequate artificial intelligence protections.
It will be the first time the performing arts and entertainment trade union has asked this whole section of its membership to vote in a ballot.
The Hollywood strikes took place in 2023. File pic: AP
The announcement follows the Hollywood strikes in 2023, when members of Equity’s sister union in the US, SAG-AFTRA, and writers, went on strike over issues including AI.
Video game actors in the US also protested over the use of AI, ending almost a year of industrial action earlier in 2025.
Equity’s ballot opens on Thursday and runs for two weeks, and will show the level of support the union has for action short of a strike.
Another statutory ballot would have to be made before any industrial action is taken.
“While tech companies get away with stealing artists’ likeness or work, and the government and decision makers fret over whether to act, unions including Equity are at the forefront of the fight to ensure working people are protected from artificial intelligence misuse,” Equity general secretary Paul W Fleming said in a statement.
“If bosses can’t ensure someone’s likeness and work won’t be used without their consent, why should performers consent to be digitally scanned in the first place?”
Mr Fleming said the ballot would give members the opportunity to “send a clear message to the industry: that it is a basic right of performers to have autonomy over their own personhood and identity”.
The union has no choice but to recommend members support industrial action, he said.
“It’s time for the bosses to step away from the brink and offer us a package, including on AI protections, which respects our members,” added Mr Fleming.
The hotly anticipated Spotify Wrapped is revealing our top tracks, artists and albums for 2025.
But how does the streaming service calculate personalised summaries of users’ listening habits and rank the UK’s hottest artists?
Here’s a look at how your data is used.
The platform describes the annual statistics as “a chance to look back on your year in sound”.
It says data is captured between January and mid-November on every account, although it mostly excludes anything streamed in private mode. (Don’t worry, your passion for the Spice Girls can be kept secret.)
Wrapped presents personalised listening statistics, which Spotify calls the “real story of your year of listening”, alongside global figures for comparison.
The streaming service says Minutes Listened reflects the actual time spent listening to audio on the platform.
Once a user streams at least 30 tracks, Spotify generates a list of Your Top Songs. Similarly, Your Top Artists ranks artists based on total minutes listening to a particular performer.
Other metrics identify the top genres users have played, as well as podcasts and audiobooks ranked by total minutes listened. And if you’ve listened to at least 70% of tracks on a record, you’ll see top albums too.
Spotify also creates Your Listening Age, a guesstimate of your age based on the era of the music “you feel most connected to”.
The streaming service says the statistic is calculated using a five-year span of music which users engaged with more than other listeners of a similar age.
Spotify has been summing up 2025’s most listened to tracks. Pic: Spotify
Swift vs Bunny
Pop superstar Taylor Swift has been named the UK’s most-streamed artist on Spotify for the third year in a row.
But she dropped out of the top spot in the global rankings, coming second to Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, who secured more than 19.8 billion streams. Third were The Weeknd, followed by Drake and Billie Eilish.
Bad Bunny’s LP Debi Tirar Mas Fotos was the most listened-to album worldwide.
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Spotify revealed Drake was the UK’s second most-listened to artist, followed by Sabrina Carpenter in third, The Weeknd in fourth and Billie Eilish in fifth.
Despite being the most listened-to artist, Swift failed to break into the UK’s top five most listened-to songs and albums of the year.
Alex Warren’s Ordinary was the most-streamed song, and Short ‘N’ Sweet, released by Carpenter last year, the top album.
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