Timeline of children's television on other British TV channels facts for kids

This is a timeline of children's television shows and channels in the United Kingdom. It focuses on channels that are not the BBC or ITV. You will learn about when popular kids' channels launched and how they changed over the years.

1980s

1982

• 1 November – S4C, a Welsh language channel, started broadcasting. It included a special block of children's shows called Clwb S4C.
• 2 November – Channel 4 also launched. It made sure to include programming for children from the very beginning.

1983

• No major events happened this year for children's programming on these channels.

1984

• 1 September – The Children's Channel launched. This was a new channel just for kids. It broadcast during the day, sharing its cable time with other channels that aired in the evenings.

1985

• 20 July – Sky Channel started a new children's show block. It was called Fun Factory and aired on weekend mornings.

1986

• 1 September – The DJ Kat Show began on Sky Channel. This was a weekday block of children's shows. It aired both in the morning and late afternoon.

1987

• No major events happened this year.

1988

• No major events happened this year.

1989

• March – The Children's Channel became available for free. It started broadcasting on Astra 1A satellite. It aired from 5 AM to 10 AM on weekdays. On weekends, it aired from 5 AM to 12 PM, sharing time with another channel called Lifestyle.

1990s

1990

• 17 September – S4C's children's block got a new name. It changed from Clwb S4C to Slot Meithrin.

1991

• A new satellite, Astra 1B, launched. This allowed The Children's Channel to broadcast for longer hours. It now stayed on air until 5 PM every day.

1992

• The Children's Channel added a new evening block. It was for older kids and teenagers. This part was simply called TCC and aired from 5 PM to 7 PM.

1993

• 1 September –
  • Sky Multichannels launched, bringing new channels. One of these was Nickelodeon. It broadcast every day from 7 AM to 7 PM.
  • The Children's Channel's hours were shortened. It now aired from 6 AM to 5 PM. This was to share its space with The Family Channel. On this day, it also became a pay television channel, meaning you had to pay to watch it.
• 17 September – Cartoon Network Europe launched from London. It was a free-to-air channel. It was paired with TNT and broadcast from 5 AM until 7 PM.

1994

• 11 September – The Fun Factory children's block ended. It had been on air for nine years.
• Nickelodeon started having live presenters. This new live show was called Nick Alive!.

1995

• May – Flextech took full ownership of The Children's Channel. By this time, the channel was known as TCC. This year also saw the launch of Tiny TCC. This was a block of shows for pre-school children. It aired every day from 6 AM to 9 AM.
• 1 October – The Disney Channel launched. It was a premium channel, part of the Sky Movies package. It aired from 6 AM to 10 PM.
• 31 December – Sky One's children's block, The DJ Kat Show, was cancelled. It had been on air for almost ten years. This happened because not many people were watching it.

1996

• August – Cartoon Network started broadcasting for two more hours. It now stayed on until 9 PM. TNT's hours then moved to 9 PM until 5 AM.
• 2 October – Fox Kids launched. It broadcast every day from 6 AM to 7 PM. Fox Kids showed live-action and animated comedies, dramas, and action shows for all ages. It also had up to seven hours of educational shows each week, with no advertisements.
• October – Children's programming on Sky One was reduced. This happened after Fox Kids Network launched. Most of the shows from Sky One moved to the new Fox Kids channel.

1997

• 3 February –
  • The shows for older children on The Children's Channel moved to a new channel. This new channel was called Trouble. The Children's Channel went back to its original name.
  • Tiny TCC moved to UK Living. It was renamed Tiny Living. Its airing times changed to 7 AM to 9 AM on weekdays. On weekends, it aired from 7 AM to 10 AM.
• 31 March – Channel 5 launched the day before. Children's programming was a big part of its schedule. This included a 90-minute morning block called Milkshake!. It ran on weekdays from 7:30 AM to 9 AM. This day also saw the first episode of Teletubbies on BBC Two.
• August – Nickelodeon started its broadcast an hour earlier. It now began at 6 AM, giving it more time on air.

1998

• 3 April – The Children's Channel closed down in the UK and Ireland.
• 17 September – S4C's children's block changed its name again. It went from Slot Meithrin to Planed Plant.
• 1 October – Sky Digital launched. This meant Nickelodeon’s broadcast day ended three hours later, at 10 PM.
• 15 November – Digital terrestrial TV launched in the UK with OnDigital. As part of its channels, Carlton created three new ones. This included Carlton Kids, a daytime channel for children. Cartoon Network also launched on OnDigital as a 24-hour service.
• December – Cartoon Network also became available on the Sky Digital satellite platform.

1999

• 1 September –
  • Nick Jr. launched on Sky. This allowed Nick Jr. to broadcast all day. Before, it was just a block of shows on the main Nickelodeon channel. It also aired on Sky's older analogue service for about a year. It broadcast from 6 AM to 10 AM alongside Sky Sports 3.
  • A one-hour time-shifted channel for Nickelodeon launched. It was called Nick Replay.
• 28 September – Playhouse Disney launched on The Disney Channel. This was a programming block for children under five years old.
• 15 October – Cartoon Network officially separated from its pan-European feed. This meant it had its own UK-specific schedule.

2000s

2000

• 31 January – Carlton Kids stopped broadcasting.
• 1 February – Discovery Kids launched on the OnDigital platform. It directly replaced Carlton Kids.
• 27 May – Boomerang launched. It showed classic cartoons from Hanna-Barbera, MGM, and Warner Bros. This also helped its sister network, Cartoon Network, by freeing up space in its schedule.
• 29 September – Playhouse Disney launched as its own channel. It launched alongside Toon Disney and Disney Channel +1 on the Sky Digital platform.
• Channel 5 launched a new programming block for older children. The Core was for children aged 8 to 15. It aired on Saturday afternoons. New shows were made for this block, like Harry and Cosh and Atlantis High. Imported teen shows also aired.

2001

• 30 April – Sky started closing its older analogue satellite services. Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. stopped broadcasting on Sky Multichannels.
• 30 June – The analogue broadcast of Cartoon Network and TCM on Astra 1C stopped.
• July – Disney bought Fox Family Worldwide from News Corp and Haim Saban. This gave Disney 76% ownership of Fox Kids.

2002

• January – Channel 5's older children's block The Core was renamed. It became Milkshake! FM. This name came from the popular pre-school block Milkshake!. This block aired from 9 AM to 12 PM on Saturdays and Sundays. Some shows from The Core continued to air on Saturday afternoons.
• 22 July – Nicktoons launched. This channel showed only cartoons.
• 16 September – Milkshake! FM was rebranded again. It became two separate blocks: Shake! and Milkshake! Toons. This happened as Channel 5 was rebranded to Five.
• 1 October – Toons & Tunes launched. It showed a mix of music videos and animated shows. It was aimed at children aged 4 to 9.
• 14 October – CNX launched. It was for older children during the day and young adults in the evening. The channel mainly showed anime, extreme sports, and action dramas. It also showed martial arts and anime films.

2003

• May – Toons & Tunes was relaunched and renamed Pop.
• 8 September –
  • Pop launched Pop Plus. This channel was for children aged 7 and under. It broadcast from 6 AM to 8 PM.
  • Toonami replaced CNX. Its channel numbers also changed on Sky and Telewest Broadband.
• November – Fox Kids started broadcasting 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

2004

• Music videos on Pop became more adult. So, the channel reduced music videos and showed more animated content.
• 31 May – Nick Jr. and Nick Jr. 2 launched a nighttime block. It was dedicated to classic British children's shows from the 1970s. It was called Noggin and ran every night from 8 PM until 10 PM.
• July –
  • Fox Kids began its transition to Jetix. A Jetix-branded block started airing every day from 3 PM to 7 PM.
  • The Playhouse Disney block on The Disney Channel ended.
  • Pop Plus was relaunched as Tiny Pop. The main Pop channel was now aimed at slightly older children.
• September – The Jetix block on Fox Kids became part of the morning schedule. It aired between 7 AM and 9 AM.
• October – Nicktoons TV extended its broadcasting hours by three more hours. It added a new block for older children. This new slot was called Toonz2Nite. It had a different look and feel from the main channel.

2005

• January – Fox Kids was fully relaunched as Jetix. This happened a year after Fox Kids International first announced plans to rename its channels to Jetix. The name Jetix suggested action and adventure.
• 5 September – Noggin was rebranded as Nick Jr. Classics.
• October – Toonz2Nite was extended by an hour. It now aired until 11 PM.

2006

• Tiny Living ended after nine years. It was a morning pre-school block on UK Living.
• March – Changes were made to Disney channels in the UK. Disney Channel and Playhouse Disney stopped being premium add-on channels. Disney Cinemagic launched. It took over the Disney slot in the Sky Movies premium package. It replaced Toon Disney. Disney Channel +1 closed and was replaced with Disney Cinemagic +1.
• 6 March – Boomerang launched a +1 time-shift channel.
• 24 April –
  • Nick Jr. 2 launched. It did not just show the same programs an hour later. Instead, it aired shows from the main channel but on a different schedule.
  • Cartoon Network Too launched. It was a sister station to Cartoon Network. It aired programs a while after they were shown on the main channel. It aired from 3 AM to 7 PM. It shared its broadcast time with TCM 2 from TCM. At first, it mainly showed cartoons made by Hanna-Barbera.
• June – Disney Channel +1 was relaunched.
• 4 September – Cartoonito launched as a programming block. It was on Cartoon Network Too and ran from 6 AM to 3 PM.
• 15 October – Channel 5 launched Five Life. Its pre-school block Milkshake! aired every day between 9 AM and 1 PM. It started broadcasting when Milkshake! ended on the main Channel 5.

2007

• 28 February – Discovery Kids closed down. It merged with Discovery Wings to form Discovery Turbo.
• 24 May –
  • BabyTV launched on Sky Digital.
  • Cartoonito launched as a full-time channel. It ran between 3 AM and 7 PM. It shared broadcast time with Turner Classic Movies 2.
• 6 August – Pop Girl launched. It aired every day between 6 AM and 9 PM.
• Pop stopped showing music videos. It adopted a full-time schedule of animated series.
• Channel 5's older children's programming blocks Shake! and Milkshake! Toons ended. Teen programs aired on Saturday mornings were no longer part of any specific block on Channel 5.

2008

• 19 May – Kix! launched. It replaced Pop +1.
• 23 June – S4C launched a daily morning children's programming block. It was called Cyw.
• 18 August – Nicktoonsters launched. It was a spin-off channel of Nicktoons. It was for children aged 5 to 11. It mainly showed older cartoons from the Nicktoons library. It broadcast for 12 hours a day, from 7 AM to 7 PM.
• December – Disney bought the remaining 26% share in Jetix. This gave Disney full ownership of the company.

2009

• 4 January – The classic children's TV strand Nick Jr. Classics ended on Nick Jr. It ended on Nick Jr. 2 in 2010.
• 1 April – Trouble closed down after 12 years on air.
• 31 July – Nicktoonsters closed after less than a year on air. It was replaced by Nicktoons +1, known as Nicktoons Replay. Disney Channel started focusing more on shows for girls.
• 4 October – Channel 5 partnered with Disney. Shake! returned to air. Disney sponsored the block. It provided some Disney Channel shows for the slot. These included Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly Place.

2010s

2010

• 26 April – S4C launched Stwnsh. It was for children aged 7 to 13. It broadcast on weekdays from 4 PM to 6 PM. On Saturday mornings, it aired from 9 AM to 11 AM. It replaced Planed Plant, which had been on air since 1998.
• 23 August – Nick Jr. started broadcasting 24 hours a day.
• 5 October – Nickelodeon launched a high-definition (HD) version of its channel.
• 18 October – Disney XD also started broadcasting a high-definition (HD) version.

2011

• Early in the year, Cartoonito’s broadcast hours changed. It now aired between 4 AM and 8 PM.
• April – Pre-school programming on 5Star ended. The block was replaced by teleshopping (advertisements for products).
• 7 May – Playhouse Disney was rebranded and became Disney Junior.
• September – Cartoon Network HD launched on Sky.
• Channel 5 stopped showing programs for teenagers. It cancelled Shake!.

2012

• 2 October – Nick Replay and Nicktoons Replay were renamed. They became Nick +1 and Nick Jr. +1 respectively.

2013

• April – A high-definition (HD) version of Disney Junior launched on Sky+ HD.
• July – Kix Power launched. It replaced Pop Girl +1 on Sky.
• October – Kix Power was replaced by Kix +1.

2014

• 20 March – Pop launched on Freeview. However, until April 2016, it was only available in areas with a local television service.
• 1 April – Cartoon Network Too closed. It was replaced by Cartoon Network +1.
• June – Kix was updated. It aimed at boys aged 7 to 17. It showed a mix of cartoons, sci-fi, and action-adventure series.
• November – Nick Jr. 2 was renamed to Nick Jr. Too.

2015

• 1 October – Pop Girl closed. It was replaced by Kix +1.

2016

• April – Kix started broadcasting on Freeview. It used the same local-TV system as Pop.
• July – Nick Jr. HD launched on Sky.

2017

• July – Disney XD's time-shift channel was rebranded for a month. It became "Spider-Man Channel." In September 2017, it was temporarily rebranded as "Mickey and Pals." It aired various shows from Disney Junior.
• August – Kix was rebranded as Pop Max. However, none of its programs changed.
• 21 August – Milkshake! returned to 5Star. It aired from 9:15 AM to 11 AM. However, its run was short, and it was dropped the following year.

2018

• 15 January – Cartoonito began broadcasting a 24-hour service.
• April – Disney XD was temporarily rebranded as Avengers channel. It aired non-stop Avengers Assemble throughout the month. It also showed exclusive content to promote the movie Avengers: Infinity War. It changed back on 30 April 2018.
• 21 July – The Canadian children's channel ZooMoo launched on Virgin Media.

2019

• June – Pop Max moved to a different broadcast system. This meant Pop Max only broadcast in Manchester on Freeview.

2020s

2020

• 30 September – Disney Channel UK and its related channels closed. Their content moved to the streaming service Disney+.
• ZooMoo stopped broadcasting in the UK after just two years.

2021

• No major events happened this year.

2022

• 31 October – Sky sold its share in Nickelodeon UK Ltd. to Paramount Networks EMEAA. The agreement with Nickelodeon had a rule that stopped Sky from launching its own kids' channel while it still owned part of Nickelodeon UK Ltd. Less than a month later, Sky announced plans to launch its own children's channel.

2023

• 13 February – Sky launched Sky Kids. This channel is for viewers aged 1–7. The channel does not show any advertisements.

See also

• Timeline of children's television on the BBC
• Timeline of children's television on ITV