UK Kids TV channels?

[Brekkie]

What's old becomes new again though. Yes, the current crop don't because that's not something offered to them. However it is something that was the routine of their parents who'd probably tune in even if the kids didn't (and the Saturday morning shows were never just about appealing to the kids) - though we're getting close to the stage where that won't be the case too.

[tellyblues]

As I said on another thread, younger viewers aren't represented enough on BBC1. The definition of younger could be extended beyond teenagers. It's difficult to resolve the issue because no programmes warrant removal or are unpopular enough that viewers wouldn't care about them going.

And when the CBBC block was removed at least there was somewhere for everything to go to. I get the feeling if Saturday Kitchen and the likes were to be taken off BBC1 and put on a channel focusing on lifestyle, people would feel insulted but apparently it was OK with CBBC...

Younger viewers choosing not to watch isn't necessarily because of them having a million and one other things to do. The quality of programming for Saturday morning TV and children's shows had dropped when they were taken off. Why is that rarely taken into account? Because it's for kids?

[thr0b]

It's simply because kids don't want it. They have a million other things bartering for their attention . My nine-year-old likes Mash-Up and will ask me if it's on, but she doesn't watch it all the way through like I would have with Going Live and Live and Kicking, because she's got other choices of viewing, be it on the telly, her tablet, or laptop.

Fantasising about bringing those shows back, putting them on BBC One and somehow they'll all gain a massive audience is all well and good, but don't kid yourself that either would ever happen.

[Brekkie]

Can't say I ever watched them all the way through in the 90s but the three hour run time meant you usually saw part of it around whatever else you were doing on a Saturday morning.


P.S. With the caveat that anyone can put anything on Wikipedia I ended up on the Run the Risk page after going down a wiki wormhole and they state there is a revival this year with Rhys Stephenson and Joe Tasker, but as I can't find a single source for this I'm assuming it may be someone's overactive imagination. Anyone seen anything?

[Neil Jones]

That was reverted some 20 minutes ago.
The only source for it is almost certainly the inside of somebody's head.

[lobster]

The thing to remember is for this generation of children, the idea of watching something at a specific time is an outmoded concept - my children just don't do it at all. They never put linear TV on after school. I've just asked both of them what they watched after school today and they said "tiktok". My son will be watching Spiderman later on streaming.

The days of Saturday 9.25 - 12.20 (or whatever) is kids tv, 3.25 - 5.10 is afternoon kids tv is dead. The reason they put cooking shows on in this slot is the same reason they put antique shows on in the morning - they haven't got anything else to put on and it's cheap.

Technology has moved on - there is no way back - there is no way back to the days of sitting in front of the box waiting for something to happen - my children watch more Netflix and Disney plus than anything else for what you'd describe as traditional tv content, they can pick what they want, when they want.

They can start watching something on their bedroom telly, stop, go around nannies for Sunday dinner and pick it up on their iPad at the exact point they left off when they get there. Linear you just can't do that - why would they want to go back to it?.

I can't see how you'd ever persuade them to use such a regressive technology!

[Brekkie]

It's a mistake though to think that a live Saturday morning style show would just exist in a linear space though. Yes, I don't think anyone who doesn't watch live is going to be rushing to watch a full 2-3 hour show on demand but any magazine show is about the 5-10 minute segments - perfect bitesize material to go viral and be consumed in a similar manner to Youtube and TikTok videos.

Granted though I probably do have to accept defeat on this one - not because I don't think it could appeal to a new generation of kids but because I just don't think there is a chance of such a show being funded at the moment either by the BBC or commercially.

[lobster]

I think the reason why it can't exist now isn't to do with the medium, it's because a 3 hour chunk of programming that kids can't swipe past the bits they are bored of isn't how they are used to consuming (something that is relatively new to us, but status quo for them) - all the segments of live and kicking could exist as separate short 2-5 minute YouTube videos, sure, that would work, but a 3 hour chunk they can't control? no way.

[Brekkie]

That hasn't really changed though. I never particularly watched the imported programming within these shows and I'm sure many viewers had a routine of hopping between the BBC and ITV offering throughout the morning.

You could use the same argument with Strictly and virtually any talent show - there is an audience that'll watch the full show but also there is those the linear broadcast doesn't reach who will stll engage by just watching the contestants they want to watch.

[CCFG]

I mainly watched CBBC just for Live & Kicking, most of my after-school/weekday viewing was on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. I haven't done any serious linear children's viewing since around 2005, but Horrible Histories, Shaun the Sheep (and a personal one, Phineas & Ferb) are exceptions.

I do think children would rather watch a string of programming they'd actually like on services like Netflix and iPlayer whenever they wanted than watch a string of cartoons they potentionally might dislike at a set time.

[tellyblues]

It's simply because kids don't want it. They have a million other things bartering for their attention . My nine-year-old likes Mash-Up and will ask me if it's on, but she doesn't watch it all the way through like I would have with Going Live and Live and Kicking, because she's got other choices of viewing, be it on the telly, her tablet, or laptop.

Fantasising about bringing those shows back, putting them on BBC One and somehow they'll all gain a massive audience is all well and good, but don't kid yourself that either would ever happen.

Not fantasizing at all. I know it won't happen because the shows airing currently won't be moved because of the backlash it would get. In any case, who "wants" any new TV show? Only when someone finds out about it do they make their mind up.

Saturday morning children's TV was taken off BBC1 originally not because people didn't want it, just that not enough people wanted it, but that was down to the quality of the product onscreen. That there was a channel to move it to was perhaps seen as an easy way out rather than improving it, which would have cost money. CBBC wasn't of the same standard it used to be when the block was removed so same thing could have happened there. In an overly fragmented landscape, cheap content doesn't look so bad on a channel out of the way but on a main channel, a broadcaster would want to avoid it.

The days of Saturday 9.25 - 12.20 (or whatever) is kids tv, 3.25 - 5.10 is afternoon kids tv is dead. The reason they put cooking shows on in this slot is the same reason they put antique shows on in the morning - they haven't got anything else to put on and it's cheap.

It may be cheap but enough viewers want it, and it appeals to the same older demographic that other BBC1 shows are aimed at so doesn't look out of place, which is wrong. BBC1 should be for every age group.

[Solari]

Mr Bean (live action) was a thing on Nickelodeon, and that is PG on the DVD release. (and maybe the previous video set too).

Though Nickelodeon hacked out all the "inappropriate" stuff that Bean does in the live action shows, like drinking washing machine detergent, haphazardly wiring a plug, putting out the bedroom light with a gun... and so on.

Makes you wonder why they ever thought it was a good idea to acquire that. Can only presume the animated series was relatively successful for them to branch out.

I know I'm going back a few pages but I've only just seen this thread/post. Mr Bean - I seem to recall that at that time, it was also shown on (what was then) Paramount Comedy - so Viacom obviously bought the rights and decided to show it on both channels. As you say, a strange choice for Nickelodeon, but obviously they thought it would get an audience on Nick on account of the success of the cartoon spin-off.

In-vision continuity was very common for both the 80s and 90s versions of CBBC and CITV, the former from 1985 and the Broom Cupboard, the latter from 1987 in Birmingham. CITV scrapped the whole in-vsion thing in 1993, then bought it back in 1998 and scrapped it again in (I think) 2005 (along with the strand on the main channel) and AFAIK the CITV Channel has never had in-vision... well anything..

But that aside, it was quite prolific. Nickelodeon were doing it, Disney channel did it, TCC as previously mentioned were doing it... Even the likes of Challenge TV had in-vision continuity so it wasn't totally unique to kids channels, but a lot of them had it as it added something to the presentation.

But of course the new millennium rolled around and all that went out the window if it hadn't done so already by that point, leaving the last bastion of it on CBBC and CBeebies as mentioned by [mention]James2001[/mention] . It is actually a dying thing, because its expensive to do - camera, sound, lights, script, studio, talent... You can see why it died out, and a pre-recorded piece of VT and maybe a voice over is significantly cheaper. CBBC probably hangs onto it because its a legacy and they've always done it that way in the key after 3pm slot, and CBeebies is pre-recorded.

I'm biased, as this was my era, so to speak, but I tend to think that the late 90s/early 00s were something of a purple patch for kids' TV - you had loads of new British programmes being made, not just by BBC/ITV but also the digital channels, plus (especially on the digital channels) lots of good quality shows from the 'mother' channels in America, and of course lots of in-vision continuity, too. Then, of course, the money ran out - and here we are...

Studio Disney I remember particularly well - I loved it, great presenters, thought it was better than CITV's in-vision, let alone CBBC. The competitions were really good, too - much better prizes than the other channels, but then I suppose a channel funded entirely by subscriptions could afford better prizes. It was axed in 2005 - I believe its axing was part of a worldwide initiative on Disney's part, as other Disney Channels had in-vision strands which were cancelled around that time, presumably to save money.

[Dogorilla]

I can't say I know much about Saturday Mash-Up but clearly there is still an audience for it. On the CBBC website you can see how many users have added a particular programme to their 'My Shows' list, and Saturday Mash-Up has just over 20,000 fans by that metric. That's not one of the absolute highest ratings on there (Blue Peter has the most, with 71,000 people having it on their list) but it's higher than quite a few other shows. Obviously this isn't a perfect measure of popularity but it gives you an idea.

[RegularCapital]

Although the focus was on the launch of BBC Three yesterday, Cartoonito has rebranded and now has a new logo, here's a continuity I've recorded:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxJaiwlo8-c

I've also received the March 2022 highlights for Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and Cartoonito, there's going to be a one-hour Cartoonito block on Cartoon Network. It seems that We Baby Bears won't be premiering in March (as an EMEA-wide release) as previously stated by the original press release, hopefully it could premiere at Easter.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10CUip1A...fVUcH/view

[Brekkie]

So is the second half the new branding with the square logo? Doesn't look anywhere near as good as the branding in the first half which I assume it has replaced.