Sky adds linear channel to its Sky Kids portfolio, commissions originals

From February, Sky is launching a 24-hour ad-free Sky Kids channel which it says will be “packed with a standout slate of Sky Originals and franchise favourites”. The UK service will put the PayTV provider in competition with BBC channel Cbeebies.

Aimed at 1-7 year-olds, the channel will be available at no extra cost for Sky TV customers with Sky Kids and NOW Entertainment Members. Franchise favourites on offer include Trolls: TrollsTopia, Clifford The Big Red Dog and Morph, while originals include Fearne Cotton’s scripted show My Friend Misty and Ready, Eddie, Go!

Lucy Murphy, director of kids content at Sky, said: “Millions of our customers already love watching our huge range of original shows on-demand but families with younger kids have told us that watching on linear channels is an important part of their day; so, we’ve listened and expanded our Sky Kids offering at no extra cost.”

Content will span themes of learning and doing, arts and crafts, music, dance and fitness, and more. In addition to My Friend Misty and Ready, Eddie, Go!, the platform will launch Dino Club (age 4+), a series about dinosaurs.

Sky already has a Sky Kids package which offers 10,000 episodes of kids’ content on demand. The new channel will be included at no extra cost. The move is another example of the resilience of linear channels in the face of on-demand.