CITV

CITV (formerly known as Children's ITV) was a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from CITV's archive and acquisitions daily from 6 am to 9 pm. 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 for children aged 6-12. It replaced the earlier Watch It! branding and introduced networked in-vision continuity links between programs. These links were pre-recorded from a small London studio until 1987 when Central won the contract to produce live links from their Birmingham studios. In 2004, the presentation of CITV was relocated to Granada Television in Manchester, which saw the demise of in-vision continuity. Nine years later, the operations moved to ITV Granada's MediaCityUK studios in Salford. In 2006, CITV launched as a digital channel on Freeview. The CITV channel averages around 100,000 viewers daily between 4 pm and 6 pm. The CITV programming block on the ITV network airs on weekend mornings from 6 am to 9:25 am as part of the ITV Breakfast time slot. CITV does not have a +1 and HD simulcast, unlike the rest of ITV's portfolio of channels. On 10 March 2023, it was announced that the CITV channel would be closing down in the autumn, in favor of an upcoming children's hub on ITVX, ITVX Kids, launching in July 2023. It was permanently shut down on 1 September, with all programmes moving to ITVX.