Sky Kids launches first-ever linear channel

The broadcaster has kicked off its programming strategy with a greenlight for three new series aimed at its under-seven target audience.

Sky Kids currently operates a VOD platform and an app, and the linear expansion seeks to meet demand from parents/caregivers. “Families with younger kids have told us that watching on linear channels is an important part of their day,” said Sky’s director of kids content Lucy Murphy in a release. “[So we] expanded our Sky Kids offering at no extra cost [to consumers].”

The new channel’s lineup will feature a mix of Sky originals like Pip and Posy (Magic Light Pictures) and The Brilliant World of Tom Gates (TG Entertainment), as well as acquired series such as Clifford the Big Red Dog (Scholastic) and Madagascar: A Little Wild (DreamWorks). It has also commissioned a trio of brand-new originals to pepper into its year-one schedule.

Live-actioner Dino Club (10 x 11 minutes) for kids ages four and up will roll out with the linear net launch in February. Produced by Bristol’s True to Nature, it features two young hosts traveling back in time to discover fun facts about dinosaurs.

My Friend Misty (10 x 11 minutes) is a live-action drama from London-based Hillside Productions that will join the lineup in April. Targeting five- to seven-year-olds, its animated protagonist offers advice to kids about emotional resilience. TV personality Fearne Cotton is an executive producer on the series.

And finally, CG-animated series Ready, Eddie, Go! (26 x seven minutes) centers around a boy with autism navigating new life experiences like getting a haircut. From London’s Hocus Pocus Productions, the project for three-and-ups adapts a series of Eddie’s Stories books written by author Nikki Saunders and will debut in October.