CBeebies

CBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at encouraging "learning through play in a consistently safe environment for children aged 6 or under", and providing "high quality, mostly UK-produced programmes".

The name is used to brand the free-to-air domestic British channel, and is used for international variants supported by advertising, subscription or both. The channel was first launched on 11 February 2002 and is a department of the BBC North Group division.

The channel has won a number of significant awards. At the BAFTA Children's Awards, it has won awards in 2002 and in every year between 2004 and 2009, including "Best Pre-school Live Action Series" in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2008. It has also won "Best Schools Programme – 0–6 years" awards (or equivalent) from the Royal Television Society from 2002 to 2005. CBeebies is one of the most watched channels in the UK. CBeebies HD officially launched on 10 December 2013.

History
The CBeebies brand was launched on 11 February 2002. The domestic CBeebies channel broadcasts from 6am to 7pm each day – a result of the channel sharing bandwidth with the channel BBC Four on the Freeview platform. The station was joined later on by an audio counterpart, CBeebies Radio, which broadcast for three hours each day on the radio station BBC Radio 7, however since the station was rebranded as BBC Radio 4 Extra this obligation has ceased. Later on they launched a weekly publication 'CBeebies Weekly'.

Since 27 March 2013, CBeebies has been carried by the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS), sharing a channel with BFBS Extra.

The international CBeebies channel is advert-free and wholly owned by BBC Worldwide. The first international launch for the CBeebies channel was in India in May 2007, although the channel was withdrawn at the end of November 2012 due to "commercial considerations".

The channel is available in the Republic of Ireland, Singapore, Hong Kong, Poland, Indonesia, Mexico, Africa, Australia and the United States (in Spanish only). In March 2011, the on demand version of the network was launched in the US and is available on Xfinity.

Management
In the UK, CBeebies is operated by the BBC Children's division and part of BBC North. The division is also responsible for CBBC and overall strategic responsibility for all of the BBC's domestic services for children rests with the Director of Children's, Joe Godwin (since late 2009). The direction of the domestic CBeebies channel itself rests with Kay Benbow, the current Controller of the channel and responsible for commissioning all CBeebies content across BBC television, online, interactive TV, and radio. She took over from the first controller Michael Carrington in 2010.

Internationally, CBeebies is owned by BBC Worldwide, who exploit and operate the brand.

Programming
CBeebies offers a mix of mostly UK-produced entertainment and educational output designed to encourage learning through play. These goals are realised through a range of programmes about simple science, natural history, music and movement, storytelling, make up and make do, puzzle programmes and animation. The channel's schedule is deliberately the same every weekday, with a different schedule at weekends, so that children can know what is on instinctively. The schedule also includes signed programmes, shown in the UK between 14:00 and 17:00 on weekends.

The international channels also show many programmes broadcast on the UK channel, however some include programmes unique to that service or are available through other networks in the UK (for example, Humf, which airs on Nick Jr. in the UK). Inversely however, shows that air on CBeebies in the UK may air on networks other than CBeebies worldwide (for example, Chuggington airs on Disney Junior Asia instead of CBeebies in the Asian region). Also, unlike the UK version of CBeebies, the International version broadcasts 24 hours a day and repeats programming several times daily.

Most viewed programmes
The following is a list of the ten most watched shows on CBeebies, based on Live +7 data supplied by BARB.

Presentation
The links between programmes on CBeebies are primarily achieved through the use of in-vision continuity, using presenters to interact with the children. In the UK, links are pre-recorded rather than broadcast live, as is the case on sister channel CBBC. They were originally pre recorded from studio TC0 at BBC Television Centre in London, however moved out in 2008 to Teddington Studios, and returned briefly in 2010. From September 2011, the links have been based at the BBC's Northern base at MediaCityUK in Salford, Manchester, following the move of the BBC Children's department there. International variants feature broadcast links produced either in the corresponding country, or from a central base.

Presenters
Many of the presenters used have histories as characters on other services or on children's programmes. CBeebies has had 13 presenters.

In the UK, presenters seen on the channel and the stranded service are Andy Day since 2007, Cerrie Burnell (the channel's only disabled presenter) and Alex Winters since 2009, Katy Ashworth since 2011 and Cat Sandion since January 2013.

The international variants feature different personalities per broadcast region. In Australia, Tara Colegrave is the main presenter since 2008, while in Hong Kong and Singapore Pui Fan Lee is the main presenter having transferred there from the UK channel in 2008. The Latin American variant uses Roser Cabañas, present on-screen since 2009, with the Polish channel showcasing Aneta Bożena Piotrowska as main presenter since 2008. The South African channel utilises Sidney Sloane.

Former presenters

 * Sue Monroe (2002–2006)
 * Nicole Davis (2003–2006)
 * Justin Fletcher (2006–2007, 2012)
 * Sarah-Jane Honeywell (2006–2007)
 * Eva Alexander (2006)
 * Chris Jarvis (2002–2009) – now broadcasts on Show Me Show Me.
 * Pui Fan Lee (2002–2009) – now broadcasts on Show Me Show Me.
 * Sidney Sloane (2002–2013) – now broadcasts on Lets Play
 * Richard David-Caine (2013-2014) (Minor Presenter) - currently broadcasts on Swashbuckle

Stranded Segments
In the UK, the CBeebies channel and terrestrial service use stranded segments throughout the day.

Originally each weekday was divided into five segments, each presented by one of the original five "core presenters" namely Chris, Nicole, Pui, Sid and Sue, with each given a core theme (for instance Sid's segment included "building and making" programmes such as Bob the Builder, Nicole's included animal programmes and so on). This segmentation was later dispensed with: only the Bedtime Hour segment was retained.

In recent years the segments were reintroduced to denote the time of day and the levels of activity. These segments are:


 * Get, Set, Go! – Early Morning schedule between 06.00 and 09.00. Includes programmes such as Tikkabilla, Pingu, Postman Pat, Tweenies, Everything's Rosie, Chuggington & Tommy Zoom.
 * Discover and Do – Late Morning and Early Afternoon weekdays between 09.00 and 3.00. The strand is aimed at young children who would not be attending school or pre-school.
 * Lunch Time – Broadcast between 12.00 and 1.00, broadcast as a part of Discover and Do.
 * Big Fun Time – Late afternoon weekdays between 3.00 and 6.00 This strand aims at the higher end of its remit, airing programming for the children who have recently returned from school.
 * Bedtime Hour – The final hour of CBeebies broadcasting between 6.00 and 7.00. The original stranded section of the channel, Bedtime Hour features calm-natured programmes, such as In The Night Garden, 3rd & Bird, 64 Zoo Lane, Waybuloo & Charlie & Lola, with story telling both within and out of the programmes and closes with a final song, "The Time Has Come to Say Goodnight", as transmission closes.

When these segments were initially introduced, each segment featured its own presenting team and set, with Cerrie Burnell and Alex Winters presenting Discover and Do in the CBeebies "living room", Lunch Time in the "kitchen" and Bedtime Hour in the "bedroom", and Andy Day and Sidney Sloane presenting Get, Set, Go! in the "living room" and Big Fun Time in the "garage". However, since moving production to Manchester this is no longer the case, with the exception of Bedtime Hour which is presented from the area nearest the house's bed.

Storytimes
While the lunchtime story is usually read by one of the regular presenters, the final show of each day, the "Bedtime Story" is read by a guest storyteller, including well known actors, comedians, and past presenters of BBC children's television. Some notable storytellers in this slot have included Simon Pegg, David Hasselhof, Lulu, Damian Lewis, and Floella Benjamin. In an unusual move, James Bolam appeared on "Bedtime Story" in costume and in character as Grandpa from Grandpa in My Pocket, not as himself.

Songs
The UK channel utilises song and music as a presentational device, often using them to teach basic knowledge or to herald the start of a stranded segment. Regular songs currently or previously broadcast are included below:


 * ''What's the Day?' – The start of each of the original five segments was accompanied by this song. This song is no longer broadcast on CBeebies.
 * It's the Weekend: A song / rap sung at various times during the weekend.
 * Washing Song
 * Getting Dressed
 * It's time for Lunch – Broadcast at noon, it includes different CBeebies personalities and children eating their lunch.
 * What's on your Plate (new CBeebies lunchtime song) – Broadcast at noon in 2012
 * Bathtime
 * Toothbrush Song
 * The Bedtime Song: Original/New – Lullaby broadcast just before 7:00 to mark the close of transmission from CBeebies.
 * Get Set Go
 * Discover & Do
 * Big Fun Time
 * Goodbye Sun, Hello Moon – Broadcast at 6:00 to mark the beginning of the Bedtime Hour.
 * Sid Says: A rap-style presentation by Sid, who tells the audience to perform simple actions (such as "Sid says, Sid says, Sid says, Sid says, Sid says 'wave your hands'").
 * Number Debut: This song was sang four times by Sid and Sarah-Jane. It was a rap sung before showings of Numberjacks about Sid getting his numbers in the wrong order.
 * Number Raps: Sung by Sid and Andy – a rap for each of the numbers 1 to 15
 * The Birthday Song: Sung before presenters show cards sent in on behalf of their young viewers who are celebrating a birthday that day. CBeebies does not use Happy Birthday to You which despite wide public performance is purportedly a copyrighted work.

In addition to these regular songs, other special songs were used to denote seasons and seasonal activities:


 * Autumn Song (2009 version) – A song featuring Alex, Sid, Cerrie, Andy showing them (with children) picking apples.
 * You Know It's Autumn
 * Colours of Autumn – Featuring Chris and Pui
 * Spring Song
 * Summer Song
 * Summer Song (2009 version)
 * Winter Song (2009 version)
 * Christmas Rap – Sung by Andy and Sid
 * Merry Christmas – During the Christmas 2006 season, a segment was recorded featuring Chris, Sid, Pui, Justin and Sarah-Jane singing the 'Merry Christmas from CBeebies to you' song.

Stars in Presenter Songs
The following songs have the following characters who were seen from 2006 to 2011.

Bathtime Song
Muck with mud on his face (Bob the Builder), Todd's Dog jumping in the mud (ToddWorld), Po (Teletubbies), Muck and Spud playing with mud (Bob the Builder), Roly Mo sinking in the bath (The Roly Mo Show), Boo in the bath (Boo!) Pingu jumping in the bath (Pingu), Bob wanting someone to have a wash (Bob the Builder), Lola in a yellowcoat (Charlie and Lola), Florrie washing (Fimbles), Teletubbies washing the Noo-Noo (Teletubbies), Jake washing (Tweenies), squirting water at Bob (Bob the Builder), Lola tickling her toes with the sponge (Charlie and Lola) Bob washing Scoop (Bob the Builder), Pinga laughing in the bath (Pingu), Winona spinning very fast (Rubbadubbers), Fimbo thinking baths are fun (Fimbles) and Lola popping the last bubble (Charlie and Lola).

Bedtime Business
The bedtime business song features all the animal toys in the London CBeebies room.

Original Bedtime Song
Georgina tucking Lucy to bed (64 Zoo Lane), Tombliboos chattering before bed (In the Night Garden), Lola yawning (Charlie and Lola), Igglepiggle sailing away (In the Night Garden), Mama Mirabelle sending everybody to sleep (Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies) and Mr Tumble going to sleep (Something Special). the moon rising up (Harry and Toto).

Getting Dressed
Wendy finding a shirt (Bob the Builder), very small Robbie Rotten clothes (LazyTown), Tombliboos putting their trousers on (In the Night Garden) Lola bumping into the clothes stand, not looking where she is going (Charlie and Lola), Bob brushing his hair (Bob the Builder) Dannan's new hat (Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks), Lola clipping her coat (Charlie and Lola), a Tombliboo getting his trousers (In the Night Garden), Bob showing his new boots (Bob the Builder), a pig's glasses (Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks), Charlie wrapping Lola's scarf (Charlie and Lola), Bob getting his new boots on (Bob the Builder), In the Night Garden breaks of Tombliboos, LazyTown members (LazyTown), Molly tells Wendy the shirt suits her (Bob the Builder), In the Night Garden breaks of Upsy Daisy and Lola telling Charlie she's ready (Charlie and Lola).

CBeebies HD
On 16 July 2013, the BBC announced that a high-definition (HD) simulcast of CBeebies would be launched by early 2014. The channel launched on 10 December 2013, though will roll-out nationwide up to June 2014 (as will BBC News HD and BBC Four HD). The channel broadcasts on the BBC's new HD multiplex on Freeview and shares its stream with BBC Four HD as they air at different times. Prior to launch, the majority of CBeebies' HD output was broadcast on BBC HD before its closure on 26 March 2013. The HD channel was not added to the Sky EPG in The Republic of Ireland.

CBeebies website
The CBeebies website coincided with the launch of the UK channel in February 2002 and showcases a child friendly site with activities themed to all CBeebies programmes, past and present, with games, songs and print-outs featuring for nearly all shows. The UK version also features links to CBeebies iPlayer, a child friendly version of the BBC iPlayer featuring CBeebies programmes only, to CBeebies radio player and a dedicated micro site containing advice for raising children and toddlers called CBeebies Grown-ups, which was relaunched in 2011.

The international channels are run by BBC Worldwide, and their websites are operated by the company also. As a result, not all of them are the same and some channels have less extensive websites than other services. CBeebies channels in Asia, Australia, Poland, South Africa and the USA all have their own international variant.

Album releases
Five CBeebies-branded CDs have been released, 'CBeebies: The Official Album' in 2002, 'My CBeebies Album' in 2006, 'My CBeebies Album (Christmas Edition)' in 2007, 'CBeebies: Song Time' in 2010, and 'CBeebies: The Album' in 2012.

CBeebies Land
Opening in May 2014, the Land will be a retheme of the existing Storybook Land and Old McDonald's Farm becoming home to a unique range of themed rides, attractions and live entertainment and will be a completely immersive and interactive world for children and young families. The planned 5 acre site within Alton Towers Resort in Staffordshire will offer plenty of opportunities for little ones to interact with some of their favourite characters and TV shows. CBeebies Land will include rides, immersive play areas, live experiences, character appearances and will be a safe and fun environment for pre-schoolers to play and learn. CBeebies Land will create experiences that inspire children with bright ideas, provide hands-on learning experiences, encourage pre-schoolers to explore and understand more about themselves and put a smile on the face of everyone who visits.

At the turn of the year, the themepark sporadically released information on the characters involved in the development via their Facebook and Twitter accounts. On January 4th, Mr. Tumble was the first character confirmed - featuring in the Something Special Sensory Garden and January 5th saw Mr. Bloom confirmed as featuring in the development in the form of Mr. Bloom's Allotments.

On January 6th the park revealed a In The Night Garden re-theme of their existing Riverbank Eyespy. On the re-themed attraction, In The Night Garden Magical Boat Ride, children will be able to drift around the ‘enchanted dreamworld’ in an area that will use the colours, sights and sounds to bring a picture books to life. Iggle Piggle, Makka Pakka and Upsy Daisy will all be on the Night Garden Island to help children appreciate the values of diversity, and enjoy the wonder in the world around them.

Stephen Gould, commercial director at DHX Media who licence In The Night Garden commented, "We are extremely excited to be working in partnership with BBC Worldwide, Merlin Entertainments and Alton Towers Resort on this new venture. In The Night Garden is the ideal draw brand to provide a fun, nurturing, inspiring and immersive environment for CBeebies Land and its visitors."

The fourth reveal on January 7th was that of Nina and the Neurons Based around the popular show which sees Nina, with the help of her animated sense Neurons, explain how and why the world around us works as it does, Nina’s Science Lab will bring together the Neurons to show how they control your five senses. In a hands-on scientific attraction, children will learn how their bodies work and what they do.

Awards
The UK channel and the programmes it has broadcast have received a number of awards throughout the years. In 2002, the Cbeebies Interactive TV Services was nominated in the Best Interactive Service category and CBeebies Online was nominated in the same category in 2005 at the BAFTA Children's Awards. The channel was awarded Best Children's Channel and Highly Commended at the Broadcast Digital Channel Awards 2006, however only achieved a nomination in 2007 and 2008. The channel was also named Children's Channel of the Year at the BAFTA Children's awards in 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2013 and was nominated for Channel of the Year in 2008 and 2009

The CBeebies UK website was nominated Best Interactive Site at the 2007 BAFTA Children's awards'', and the brand as a whole also won the Best Design and Innovation award by the Royal Television Society, whose awarding panel said "Its website is an integral part of the brand, with its TV production and online teams working together to create innovative game play and immersive web experiences."