CITV (standing for Children's ITV) was a British children's brand of ITV plc, a free-to-air television channel, and the name of programming blocks on the ITV network and ITV2. CITV launched on 29 December 1980 as Watch It!, then later rebranded on 3 January 1983 as Children's ITV, as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network for children aged 6 to 12.At this point, there was only one "ITV" channel in any given area, transmitter overlap and split weekday/weekend franchises aside, and "ITV" was solely a generic/collective name for the various regional commercial television stations. 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 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 block's in-vision continuity being discontinued. In 2013, the operations moved to ITV Granada's MediaCityUK studios in Salford.
In 2006, CITV launched as a digital channel on Freeview. The channel primarily ran repeated ITV content and acquisitions daily from 6am to 9pm. Following the removal of its original afternoon slot in late 2006, a CITV programming block on the ITV network continued to air on weekend mornings from 6am to 9:25am as part of the ITV Breakfast time slot. CITV did not have a +1 simulcast, unlike the rest of ITV's portfolio of channels, and was only simulcast in HD on Sky Glass.
On 22 July 2023, ITV launched a new children's hub on the ITVX streaming service, ITVX Kids, as an eventual replacement for the CITV channel. At 9pm on 1 September 2023, the channel closed with a promotional loop informing viewers of the move to ITVX.
On 2 September 2023, the children's block was moved to feature every morning on ITV2 during breakfast time, from 5am to 9am (later shortened). Shows broadcast and promoted during the block were sourced from the ITVX Kids streaming service. The block retained usage of the pre-existing CITV branding, following the channel's closure. The block, along with the last current vestige of CITV, wound down on 10 April 2026.
History
Watch It! and Children's ITV: Early years (1980–1989) Before being known as Children's ITV, the timeslot for children's programmes on the ITV network was branded as Watch It!, which 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 in 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 Thursdays, the ITV regions were able to broadcast whatever programmes they wished; many non-children's programmes appeared, such as Looney Tunes and 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 the Watch It! block each weekday from 4:15pm to 5:15pm, after the IBA continued to emphasise issues.
Watch It! was conceived by the promotions department at ATV, with the implementation of the branding differing from region to region, thus it was always transmitted locally and never provided on a network feed. ATV provided different animations each season, to update what was available to each company. Most regions would use their own station announcers during Watch It! airtime.
Shortly after the start of new franchises in 1982, some ITV stations raised concerns that Watch It! had not gone far enough to address previous concerns. Central's Controller of Children's Programmes, Lewis Rudd, suggested a different approach to the presentation method. As a result, the Central Promotions Department came up with the initial concept for Children's ITV. The rebrand was devised, and links between programmes were pre-recorded using presenters drawn from the constituent programmes. The networking arrangements were similar to those already in place for the transmission of schools programmes, and the links were played out from Central and the component programmes came from the supplying companies.
Watch It! was replaced by Children's ITV and began on 3 January 1983, between 4 and 5:15pm every weekday afternoon, the extra 15 minutes being filled by a repeat of one of the preschool programmes shown at lunchtime the same day. Initially featuring a different presenter each month (usually from children's television, including Matthew Kelly, who became the block's original presenter while also hosting Madabout), the links were pre-recorded in advance in a small studio at a London facility called Molinare, using a single locked-off camera. The first set design was a rocket ship and was used for the first few months. The concept was eventually discontinued, and the set and style of presentation used began to reflect the presenter doing the presenting that month or the programme that they starred in (including Pat Coombs as "The Dressmaker" from Yorkshire Television's Ragdolly Anna in a room of antiques in April 1984).
By 1985, the links were still being recorded, but using a common, stylised set known as "Network Control", which allowed the presenter to be joined by guests in the studio for interviews. The exterior of this fictitious location also featured in the animations and stings. Technical considerations often left the system flawed, as each programme was transmitted from a different playout source (usually from that of the originating ITV company; for example, if the first programme was Rainbow, which came from Thames TV, their staff would have to run the tape while the presenter was talking, and would not show the region's skyline ident before the programme's titles). With each link being pre-recorded (played out by Central), errors often occurred on air, as programmes would be rolled early and links were cut short. Programmes would also fail to appear, leaving the presenter static. Because each link was recorded for the slot available, the presenter would hold the final pose for several moments so that transmission controllers at Central could maintain material being broadcast if necessary. Pre-recording the links also meant that last-minute schedule changes could not be easily referenced.
In September 1985, the BBC rebranded their own children's presentation with the introduction of Children's BBC. Using the BBC1 announcer booth at BBC Television Centre, later dubbed "The Broom Cupboard", Phillip Schofield provided links between the programmes. This format of a small self-operated continuity studio using one single presenter (and an occasional puppet) continued in largely the same format until 1993, but was broadcast live and allowed for a looser, more relaxed style of presentation than the rival Children's ITV service.
Children's ITV subsequently went live in early June 1987.TV Times: 30 May - 5 June 1987 Issues: P26 Gary and Debbie Welcomes you to Children's ITV Using the small presentation studio at their Broad Street studios, which had become available since in-vision continuity for the Central region was discontinued, former Central announcers Gary Terzza and Debbie Shore presented live links from a set built to look like a transmitting station. Although the studio space was small, the designers' use of a plate glass mirror gave the effect of a much larger set. The new live format gave brought a great deal of flexibility; timings could be altered, schedule changes reflected, and breakdowns dealt with in a continuous manner. In 1988, the format was refreshed again with a new single presenter, Mark Granger, replacing Terzza and Shore, in a smaller, more basic studio set which included in-vision monitors showing the VT clock of the next scheduled item.
Stonewall Productions era (1989–1991) On 3 April 1989, the independent production company Stonewall Productions won the contract to produce and revamp the Children's ITV presentation. Stonewall Productions was operated by Michael Jackson, a Central employee who used his expertise to put a successful application together.
Whereas Central had restricted links to the station's former in-vision presentation studio, Stonewall chose not to use a fixed set, instead presenting links from various areas of Central's headquarters at Broad Street in Birmingham. These utilised a rotating team of presenters consisting of Clive Warren, Jeanne Downs, Jerry Foulkes, and large puppet Scally the Dog (which was first introduced during Granger's final few months under Central).
Central regains control (1991–2001) Central regained the contract to produce the continuity links on 9 April 1991, choosing to revert to a small in-vision studio using only one regular presenter, Tommy Boyd, and use their own new branding package. During the 1991–1993 era, greater relevance was being placed throughout television on promotional trailers as a way of effectively detailing areas of the schedule to viewers who might not know about them; consequently, the 1993 invitation to tender for the provision of the Children's ITV service specified a minimum number of high quality trailers that the successful applicant were required to create over the term of the contract. Containing a sizeable promotions department, and a credible reputation for presentation within the ITV network, the contract remained with Central.
The Broadcasting Act 1990 and subsequent 1991 ITV franchise auctions also brought about numerous changes to the output and structure of ITV's children's output. Both saw several regions end in-house production of its programming in favour of commissioning independents, such as Tetra Films, which housed children's personnel formerly of Thames. Alongside this, the network's subcommittee on children's productions across its regions was superseded in favour of one dedicated controller of children's and daytime programming at the newly-established ITV Network Centre, first occupied by Dawn Airey.
Soon after assuming control of Children's ITV, Airey removed its in-vision presentation; beginning on 15 February 1993, Steve Ryde instead provided live out-of-vision continuity links featuring a variety of animated characters and settings. Ryde additionally had creative input into on-screen promotions devised alongside producer-director Tony Jopia, and occasionally appeared on-screen. On 6 September 1993, the block was extended to start at 3:30pm, a move made possible by shifting ITV's lunchtime preschool programming broadcasts at 12:10pm to mid-afternoon. Around the same time, Children's ITV began to be informally referred to as CITV. However, the "Children's" was not removed from the logo until 2 September 1996, accompanying the introduction of a digital on-screen graphic (DOG).
Presentation for the service was relocated in 1997 when Central moved into newer, smaller studios at Gas Street Studios in Birmingham. A heavily revamped live in-vision service and logo were introduced on 26 May 1998 by the new controller of CITV output, Nigel Pickard, who had replaced Airey's successor Vanessa Chapman in January. With responsibility for the revamp under Pickard, Steve Ryde (now-producer of the block's presentation) selected Stephen Mulhern and Danielle Nicholls as the new in-vision presentation team out of over 900 auditions. CITV was initially broadcast live daily on weekdays from a small studio at Gas Street Studios during this period; a new Sunday morning block was also introduced prior to the May revamp, with live in-vision presentation launching for it later that year in September. Outside broadcasts additionally occurred on occasion.