NBCUniversal to Shutter Universal Kids in March

[TMC]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nbcun...004845885.html

Loree Seitz
Mon, January 13, 2025 at 4:48 PM PST

It’s the end of the road for Universal Kids.

NBCUniversal will shutter the kid-centric cable network in early March, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap. The move is expected to take place around March 6, when the channel will begin displaying information for viewers.

Despite shutting down Universal Kids, NBCUniversal continues to prioritize its commitment to family entertainment and kids-focused programming on Peacock, per the individual, reflecting a general industry shift towards streaming, especially when it comes to kids content.

The move to shutter Universal Kids comes as NBCUniversal parent company Comcast prepares to spin-off several of its cable networks into a new standalone, publicly traded company.

Universal Kids was not included in the several cable networks mentioned that would be spun off into the new company, which include MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Oxygen, E!, Syfy and Golf Channel, among others. The entity will also include digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, Golf Now and Sports Engin.

As Comcast off-loads its cable assets into the new company, NBCUniversal-owned Peacock, the NBC broadcast channel and cable network Bravo, which is behind the “Real Housewives” franchise and “Vanderpump Rules,” among others, will remain with Comcast.

“When you look at our assets, talented management team and balance sheet strength, we are able to set these businesses up for future growth,” Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said in a statement. “With significant financial resources from day one, SpinCo will be ideally positioned for success and highly attractive to investors, content creators, distributors and potential partners.”

As kids programming moves to streaming platforms for the most part, viewership for linear kids TV leaders has plummeted, with Disney Channel seeing a 90% drop from 2016 to 2022, while Nickelodeon saw a 86% drop and Cartoon Network fell 85%.

[Hawkee]

When you get the general picture how many kids today do you see watch a lot of TV? Probably less is the logical answer. Because the main reason why Universal Kids is shutting down is simply because it was doomed from the start when it was Sprout and when you look at it from a different vision Sprout was aimed at kids 3 to 7 and with Universal Kids they had hoped that they would attract the older crowd but when Universal Kids was launched it was the same lineup as Sprout but with a name change. I think Universal Kids was trying to copy PBS Kids and deal with educational programming because educational programming for kids was a big thing but had they appealed to the older kids Universal Kids would've survived longer

[TMC]

Universal Kids has officially shut down as of March 6, 2025 at midnight and now it's time to conclude as to why the channel failed. The combination of alienating the pre-existing preschool audience (since it began as Sprout), more popular and renown options being available, and the streaming age booming contributed to the channel's eventual demise.

This is the first NBCUniversal/Comcast network to shut down since the G4TV revival back in 2022, and before that, Chiller back in 2017! Personally I feel indifferent to the channel's closure since I never watched it and never cared or was interested in the programming. Also when Sprout rebranded to Universal Kids, I was in middle school and above the target audience.

Also there’s been a rumor floating around lately that MeTV Toons was gonna replace Universal Kids’ channel space after it shut down and it’s false. If that were to actually happen, Weigel would have come out with an announcement on their Twitter page or in a news article saying so. If a rumor sounds too good to be true and there is a lack of evidence backing it up, 99% of the time it’s made up. You can’t believe everything you see on the internet, people.