CBeebies

CBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at encouraging "learning through play in a consistently safe environment for children aged 6 or under", and providing "high quality, mostly UK-produced programmes".

The name is used to brand the free-to-air domestic British channel, and is used for international variants supported by advertising, subscription or both. The channel was first launched in 2002.

The channel has won a number of awards. At the BAFTA Children's Awards, it won awards in 2002 and in every year between 2004 and 2009, including "Best Pre-school Live Action Series" in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2008. It has also won "Best Schools Programme – 0–6 years" awards (or equivalent) from the Royal Television Society from 2002 to 2005. CBeebies is the most-watched children's channel in the UK. CBeebies HD officially launched on 10 December 2013.

History

The CBeebies channel was launched on 11 February 2002. The domestic CBeebies channel broadcasts from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. each day – a result of the channel sharing bandwidth with the channel BBC Four on the Freeview platform. The station was joined later on by an audio counterpart, CBeebies Radio, which broadcast for three hours each day on the radio station BBC Radio 7, however since the station was rebranded as BBC Radio 4 Extra this obligation has ceased. Later on they launched a weekly publication called CBeebies Weekly.