CITV channel to close as ITV makes most children’s shows online-only

Broadcaster says children’s TV audiences have largely moved to YouTube and other streaming services

ITV is shutting down its CITV channel and shifting most of its children’s programmes to streaming-only, arguing that young people have largely given up on watching scheduled television.

CITV will disappear as a standalone channel in the autumn, with all children’s content shifting to the streaming platform ITVX. The broadcaster said the channel was unprofitable and children’s TV audiences had collapsed in recent years because of a shift to YouTube and other streaming services.