ITV is taking on children’s heavyweights CBBC, Disney and Nickelodeon
with its own channel and has vowed to emerge from the playground scrap
victorious.
On March 11, ITV launched its new children’s channel into the already
crowded and incredibly competitive kids’ television sector but
executives at Network Centre are confident that they are on to a
winner.
Targeting young people aged ten and under, the new station is the first
dedicated commercial channel for children on digital service Freeview
and will broadcast from 6am to 6pm. Despite the fact that there are
already more than 20 channels serving the nation’s children, ITV has
proclaimed that it fully expects to be the most watched commercial
service in UK households within a year and a half, seeing off
competition from the likes of Discovery Kids, Disney and Nickelodeon.
Steven Andrew, programme director for ITV digital channels, said he was sure it would outperform the market by late 2007.
He said: “Within 18 months we will be number one.”