ITV will be closing one of its channels, after 17 years on screens.

And its content will be moved to ITVX, their streaming service.

After 17 years of broadcasting, ITV have announced that it will be closing

its childrens TV channel, CITV.

ITV are planning to move its entire slate of children’s programming to its new streaming platform ITVX, with a dedicated destination called ITVX Kids.

Children’s programmes will be shown early mornings on ITV2. Programmes for pre-school children will continue to be broadcast in the mornings on ITVBe, as part of ‘LittleBe’

Explaining their decision, ITV bosses revealed the the average amount of broadcast TV minutes of kids TV channels watched by 4-15 year olds per week has declined by 62% since 2019.

Craig Morris, Managing Editor of ITVX said: ‘We’re really excited to launch this dedicated destination for kids on ITVX, which will be home to a wealth of content including new series, recognisable brands and existing favourites for a range of ages, all in one child-safe area, with editorial curation to guide viewing. Content will be available to stream for free, with the option for parents to choose ad free viewing, through a subscription to ITVX Premium.’

The launch is set to begin in July and will be rolled out over the school summer holidays, and the CITV channel will cease operations in the autumn.

This follows the BBC decision to close CBBC sometime in 2024.