BBC launches iPlayer Kids app

The BBC has launched a dedicated catch-up service for children, available for free on iOS and Android phones and tablets, as well as Kindle Fire.
BBC iPlayer Kids features programming from the UK public broadcaster’s children’s channels CBeebies and CBBC, including Wolfblood, Blue Peter, The Dumping Ground, Topsy & Tim and Go Jetters.

It comes as part of BBC Children’s plans to ramp up its offering to kids online in 2016 and beyond and acts as a precursor to the BBC’s forthcoming expanded digital service for kids, which has provisionally been named iPlay.

Some programmes will be available to download and stream for up to 30 days offline, while user profiles will mean children should only be able to watch age-appropriate content.

Children’s titles regularly appear in the top 20 most-requested programmes on BBC iPlayer and in 2015 accounted for a third of the 2.9 billion requests for TV programmes.

Alice Webb, director of BBC Children’s, said: “The BBC iPlayer Kids app meets the needs we know are absolute deal breakers for kids and parents. We’re offering choice and control, wrapped up in a child-friendly design and the largest range of home-grown UK content on a platform parents can trust.”

It follows the launch of pay TV broadcaster Sky’s own on-demand service for kids, Sky Kids, which features programming from CBBC, CBeebies as well as Disney, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.