In response to the shifting landscape of children’s content consumption and as part of ITV’s strategic development of ITVX, the closure of CITV is underway. This move aligns with the changing habits of young audiences and the decreasing viewership of traditional broadcast TV among children.

Sky News initially reported the closure plan, with ITV confirming that due to the evolution towards streaming and the evolving content access patterns of children and their families, the CITV broadcast channel is set to conclude operations after the summer break on September 1sT.

The channel

The digital CITV channel was introduced in 2006, extending the legacy of Children’s ITV that had been present on the main channel since 1983.

Recent launch of ITVX in December aims to provide a more comprehensive replacement for the former ITV Hub on-demand platform. Anticipating this transition, ITV leadership had previously indicated their intention to discontinue the CITV channel after introducing a dedicated children’s destination on ITVX. As part of the offerings, parents can opt for an ad-free experience by subscribing to ITVX Premium.

Notably, ITV affirmed that the pre-school segment, LittleBe, will remain available as a programming block on the ITVBe channel, which caters to a female-skewed audience.