Network | |
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Launched | September 28, 2013 |
Country of origin | United States |
Owner |
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Format | Saturday morning educational program block |
Running time | 3 hours |
Original Language(s) | English |
The CBS Dream Team (also known under the extended title of The CBS Dream Team...It's Epic!) is an American programming block that is programmed by Litton Entertainment, and airs weekend mornings on CBS. The block features six half-hour live-action documentary and lifestyle series aimed at teenagers between the ages of 13 and 16, which are designed to comply with educational programming requirements defined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under the Children's Television Act.
On July 24, 2013, CBS announced that it had entered into a programming agreement with Litton Entertainment to launch a new Saturday morning block featuring live-action lifestyle, wildlife and documentary series aimed at teenagers between the ages of 13 and 16. Litton already programmed a Saturday morning block for ABC, Litton's Weekend Adventure, which debuted in September 2011 in an agreement in which the block was syndicated to that network's owned-and-operated stations and affiliates (it subsequently began producing a similarly formatted block for CBS sister network The CW in October 2014). CBS's decision to restructure the block away from the traditional fare of animated and live-action scripted series – which it had been airing at the time of the deal as part of Cookie Jar TV, a block produced by Cookie Jar was done in part to comply to tightened educational content and advertising regulations in the Children's Television Act.
The CBS Dream Team, debuted on September 28, 2013 replacing Cookie Jar TV; this marked the second time that CBS carried an exclusively live-action block for younger audiences on Saturday mornings, having previously produced an E/I-compliant block called Think CBS Kids from September 1997 to September 1998. The Dream Team block's initial lineup consisted mainly of newer series; however, the cooking series Recipe Rehab also migrated to the Dream Team from Litton's Weekend Adventure for its third season. Shortly before the block debuted, Litton reached a distribution agreement with the American Forces Network to televise the block to provide educational content to military children overseas. All of the network's programming features Descriptive Video Service for the visually impaired on the second audio program channel.