CiTV
| Children's ITV | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Launched | 3 January 1983 (block) (as Children's ITV) 11 March 2006 (channel) |
| Network | ITV |
| Owned by |
ITV Digital Channels Ltd (ITV plc) |
| Picture format |
576i (4:3/16:9 SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Audience share | 0.24% (CITV channel) (October 2015, BARB) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sister channel(s) |
ITV ITV2 ITV3 ITV4 ITVBe ITV Encore The Store |
| Website | itv.com/citv |
|
Availability
|
|
| Terrestrial | |
| ITV Breakfast Block | Channel 3/103 (all platforms) |
| Freeview | Channel 795/122 Channel TBA (+1) Channel TBA (HD) |
| Satellite | |
| Freesat | Channel 602 Channel TBA (+1) Channel TBA (HD) |
| Sky (UK only) | Channel 621 Channel TBA (+1) Channel TBA (HD) |
| Astra 2E | 10758 V 22000 5/6 |
| Cable | |
| Virgin Media | Channel 734 Channel TBA (+1) Channel TBA (HD) |
| WightFibre | Channel 103 Channel TBA (+1) Channel TBA (HD) |
| Streaming media | |
| ITV Hub | Catch up (UK only) |
| TVPlayer | Watch live (UK only) |
| Sky Go |
Watch live (UK and Ireland only) |
| Virgin TV Anywhere | Watch live (UK only) |
CITV (short for Children's ITV) is a British children's television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6am to 9pm which was previously 6am to 6pm until 21 February 2016 (although Freeview viewers still close at 6pm) in an attempt to compete with CBBC. It is also the title of a programming block on the ITV network at weekends.
Children's ITV launched on 3 January 1983, as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network. It replaced the earlier Watch It! branding and introduced networked in-vision continuity links between programmes. These links were originally pre-recorded from a small London studio, up until 1987 when Central won the contract to produce live links from their Birmingham studios. In 2004, presentation of CITV was relocated to Granada Television in Manchester, which saw the demise of in-vision continuity. Nine years later, operations moved to ITV Granada's MediaCityUK studios in Salford.
In 2006, CITV launched as a channel in its own right. The CITV channel averages around 100,000 viewers between 4pm-6pm every day. The CITV strand on the ITV network airs on weekend mornings from 6am to 9:25am, as part of the ITV Breakfast time slot.
Before being known as Children's ITV, the timeslot for children's programmes on the ITV Network was briefly branded as Watch It!. The Watch It! brand started on 29 December 1980 and was presented live by the duty continuity announcer in each ITV region.
The notion of networking children's continuity was first suggested within ITV as far back as the early 1970s, but with fierce regional identities prevalent - including scheduling, presentation and programming - the idea stalled until the late 1970s, when the IBA began to express concern that most ITV shows for children were not consistent or fully networked. On many occasions, the ITV regions were able to broadcast whatever programmes they wished; many non-children's programmes appeared, such as Little House on the Prairie. In December 1980, ITV announced its first concerted effort at a more coherent approach to children's output, with the introduction of Watch It! each weekday from 4.15pm to 5.15pm, after the IBA continued to emphasized issues.
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