BBC Trust starts review of kids’ TV services

The BBC Trust, the UK public broadcaster’s governing body, has announced a review of its children’s TV services including CBBC and CBeebies.

The review will look at how the two dedicated kids services are performing across TV and online, and will also assess the BBC Executive’s progress on creating radio services for children, including children’s programming on the Radio 4 Extra service.

The Trust has opened a public consultation on its website and has prepared a questionnaire aimed at seeking the views of children themselves, as well as providing a survey questionnaire for parents and carers.

For CBeebies, CBBC and Radio 4 Extra, the Trust will review the extent they are being used, assess whether they are providing high quality content, are good value for money, and contributing to the BBC’s public purposes.

The Trust will also look at how other relevant BBC services, whether TV, radio and online, plan to serve children under the age of 16.

The review will look at developments in the children’s media sector including changes to their listening and viewing habits, and will check that the BBC is well-placed to meet the challenges that may result from these changes.

“The Trust is committed to ensuring the BBC continues to provide children with high-quality, home-grown programming, which is educational, entertaining and offers an opportunity to bring families together.

“Since our last review in 2009 there have been many developments to the services the BBC provides. For example, we recently saw children’s TV programming move to its dedicated digital home, in line with changing viewing habits,” said BBC Trustee Alison Hastings, who is leading the review.

“We’ll be taking stock to see how well the services are meeting their licence requirements and the expectations of the children and families who watch and listen.”