Universal Kids
| Sprout | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Launched | September 26, 2005 |
| Owned by |
NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group (NBCUniversal) (Comcast) (Children's Network, LLC.) |
| Picture format |
|
| Slogan | Free to Grow |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | Comcast Building, Rockefeller Center, New York City |
| Formerly called | PBS Kids Sprout (2005-13) |
| Replaced | PBS Kids Channel (first generation; on most providers) |
| Sister channel(s) | |
| Website | www |
|
Availability
|
|
| Satellite | |
| DirecTV | 295 (HD/SD) |
| C-Band | |
| Cable | |
| Time Warner Cable | 255 (HD) |
| IPTV | |
| AT&T U-verse |
|
| Verizon FiOS | 263 (SD) |
| Google Fiber | Check local listings for channels |
| Streaming media | |
| PlayStation Vue | Internet Protocol television |
| DirecTV Now | |
| YouTube TV | |
Sprout (stylized as sprout) is an American digital cable and satellite television network that is owned by the NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group subsidiary of NBCUniversal, all owned by Comcast. The channel, which also maintains a complimentary video-on-demand (VOD) service and website, features a mix of preschooler-oriented children's programs acquired from the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and original programming exclusive to the network. The network's live programming and wraparound segments are produced at NBC Studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. The channel's operations relocated from Philadelphia to New York City in 2014. The channel launched in 2005 as PBS Kids Sprout under a joint venture made up of PBS, Comcast, Sesame Workshop, and HiT Entertainment.
As of January 2016, Sprout is available to approximately 56 million pay television households (48.2% of households with television) in the United States.
On September 9, 2017, Sprout will be renamed to Universal Kids, featuring a focus on programming for older children in primetime. However, Sprout and its existing programming will continue to make up the majority of the network's schedule, as a programming block airing daily from 3:00 a.m. ET to 6:00 p.m. ET.
Sprout traces its origins to the PBS Kids network (referred to as PBS Kids Channel in press materials), which launched on September 6, 1999 coinciding with PBS Kids' rebrand that day. The PBS Kids feed was available on digital cable and satellite television, and was also offered to PBS member stations for use on a "cablecast" service (a cable-only local channel provided by the member station) or for use on the member station's over-the-air analog channel to provide a portion of the daytime PBS Kids programming on the station. Participating stations were required to pay an annual fee of $1,000 to use the feed. At launch, 32 PBS member stations had signed up to use the service. The channel was created, in part, to compete against Nick Jr. and its sister network Noggin (which now shares its name with the Nick Jr. block). Because the cable rights to the Children's Television Workshop's program library were owned by Noggin (which CTW owned a 50% interest in at the time), the channel did not broadcast any CTW programming, including Sesame Street, a long staple of PBS' children's programming lineup. The CTW-produced Dragon Tales, which premiered on the same day as the launch of the PBS Kids Channel, was the only exception to this.
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Wikipedia