CBBC

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CBBC (Children's BBC) is the brand-name for the BBC's children's television programmes aimed at children aged between 6 and 12 years old. The Children's BBC name as a dedicated programming strand began on 9 September 1985, with the CBBC name used informally since 1990. This became official with a relaunch of the BBC's branding in 1997.

CBBC programmes are shown on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC HD and the CBBC Channel. CBBC has a sister brand, CBeebies, for children under 6. The CBBC brand for BBC One and BBC Two are known as CBBC on BBC One and CBBC on BBC Two.

CBBC comes under the control of the BBC Children's department, who are responsible for creating programming for children up to the age of 16 or 17. It is based in the East Tower of the BBC Television Centre, with some programmes coming from Scotland, Bristol and Cardiff.

Since February 2006, the Controller of BBC Children's has been Richard Deverell, with Anne Gilchrist as Creative Director of CBBC and Michael Carrington as Creative Director of CBeebies. Steven Andrew is the current Head of CBBC.

The department splits output into age groups, with CBeebies for ages up to 6, the CBBC brand for ages 6 to 12, and BBC Switch, for ages 12 to 16.

Contents 1 History 2 Programming 3 Presentation 3.1 2006 to 2007 3.1.1 Presenters from 2006 to 2007 3.2 2007 to present 3.2.1 Presenters from 2007-present 3.3 Former presenters 3.3.1 Guest/relief continuity presenters 3.4 Logos 4 Other services 4.1 CBBC Extra 4.2 CBBC Quiz 4.3 Website 4.4 My CBBC 4.5 Adventure Rock 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

The first children-specific strand on BBC television was For The Children, first broadcast on the then BBC Television Service on Saturday 24 April 1937; it was only ten minutes long. It lasted for two years until television was closed by the Second World War in 1939.

For The Children recommenced on Sunday 7 July 1946, with twenty minutes every Sunday afternoon, with programmes for pre-school children under the banner For The Very Young. It was replaced in 1952 with Watch With Mother, which became See-Saw on 1 October 1980. During this time the BBC Television Service became BBC One when in 1964 BBC Two was launched. The new channel carried children's programming from its inception – indeed, the first programme officially broadcast on BBC Two was an edition of Playschool. See-Saw survived until 1989.

Meanwhile, weekday afternoon children's programmes on BBC One were introduced by the usual off-screen continuity announcer over special 'Children's' still captions. Finally, on Monday 9 September 1985, Children's BBC a new format with in-vision continuity announcers was launched. This was a response to a similar format adopted by ITV in January 1983. It encompassed programming on BBC One between 15:55 and 17:35.

In 2009, a report published by the BBC Trust found that scheduling changes which took place in February 2008, where programming ended at 17:15, had led to a decrease in viewers.^[1] This was especially noticeable for Blue Peter and Newsround, two of CBBC's flagship programmes; Blue Peter is now recording its lowest viewing numbers since it started in 1958, and Newsround now receives less than 100,000 viewers compared to 225,000 in 2007.^[2][3]

[edit] Programming

CBBC produces a whole range of programme types, including drama, news, entertainment, educational programmes and what is known as 'contemporary factual'.

[edit] Presentation

From its beginning in 1985, Children's BBC was presented from the regular announcer's booth in the BBC One network control area, which had a camera fitted and was known as the 'broom cupboard'. The wall behind the presenter featured the Children's BBC logo, a video monitor and various pictures that had been sent in by viewers. Occasionally, when maintenance work was being carried out on the usual presentation area, CBBC was presented from the backup network control facility, NC3, and it was when presenting from here that the term 'broom cupboard' was coined. In 1988, BBC One and BBC Two swapped their presentation control suites – hence CBBC moved as well – and the new studio was bigger than the old one, which allowed for a more elaborate set. However occasionally when the schedule was moved to BBC Two, CBBC did sometimes return to the original 'broom cupboard'.

However, beginning in 1987, other studios began to be used. There were two small presentation studios near network control, known as "Studio A" and "Studio B", and these were used for programmes in the school holidays, which were named "But First This", a name which lasted until 1992 (albeit being later shortened to "BFT"). These two studios quickly began to see quite regular use for CBBC – being used for school holidays, the pre-school birthday cards slot, Sunday morning broadcasts, most other BBC Two broadcasts as well as some other occasions. In addition to this, sets were sometimes built on the roof of BBC Television Centre.

By the early 90s, Studio A was commonly in use, although the broom cupboard remained in regular use for the majority of BBC1 broadcasts. However, by 1994, this all changed. The broom cupboard was last seen on screen in July of that year, and for the summer all presentation moved to a desert-island set built on the roof of Television Centre. During this time, Studio A was given a major revamp, and that September became the permanent home of Children's BBC.

Three years later, and in 1997, a new studio was built. Studio 9 (or TC9) was a brand new purpose built studio, next door to the Blue Peter garden, and in June 1997, CBBC moved out of Studio A and into TC9. The CBBC Channel launched in 2002 and they used studio space in TC2, with broadcasts on BBC One and BBC Two continuing to use TC9.

During a brief period of expansion in studio facilities in 2005, links for BBC One and BBC Two utilised studio TC10 (on the sixth floor of Television Centre, and originally news studio N1), whilst the CBBC Channel became the sole occupant of TC9. The last live continuity links from TC9 were broadcast on BBC One on Friday 1 December 2006, presented for the final time by Angellica Bell and Simon Grant, who left CBBC without being replaced, leading to a reduction in the number of studio presenters. Between Monday 4 December 2006 and Thursday 6 March 2008, all CBBC presentation output on BBC One, BBC Two and the CBBC Channel was produced from studio TC12. This has since been replaced by a new facility in the East Tower of Television Centre.

[edit] 2006 to 2007

From 4 December 2006, CBBC continuity was presented from a small virtual studio by Gemma Hunt and Anne Foy. During Christmas, Level Up presenter Ayesha Asantwaa fronted weekend links. Hunt covered BBC One links and Foy presented links for the CBBC Channel until February 2007 when the duo switched presenting duties. Comedian and BBC Radio Lancashire presenter Ted Robbins freelanced as a presenter during February half-term and the summer, appearing as The Governor from The Slammer. The virtual studio presentation format was discontinued on Sunday 2 September 2007 with Gemma Hunt making the final announcement from the set-up.

[edit] Presenters from 2006 to 2007

Presenters	Years	Current role
Gemma Hunt	(11 February 2002 - 3 September 2007)	BBC One and CBBC Channel weekdays and weekends
Anne Foy	(February 2003 - January 2008)	BBC One and CBBC Channel weekdays and weekends.

[edit] 2007 to present

Monday 3 September 2007 saw the fifth CBBC relaunch.^[4][5] As part of the relaunch, new logos, idents, interactive services, programmes and presenters were introduced. The previous computer generated studio backgrounds were replaced by a real set. Its design is a reflection of CBBC's roots, with a similar set up to the original 'broom cupboard'.

Ed Petrie became the chief continuity presenter, accompanied by puppet sidekick Oucho T. Cactus (operated and voiced by Warrick Brownlow-Pike). The duo presented live, weekday afternoon links on the CBBC Channel with Petrie voicing pre-recorded, out-of-vision announcements during the weekday strand on BBC One and BBC Two. Ed & Oucho left CBBC continuity on 17 April 2009 to concentrate on programming work. Sam and Mark then presented the afternoon links for two weeks. Former weekend presenters Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner presented live weekday links until 2nd July 2009. On Friday 3rd July 2009 Iain Stirling and Hacker T. Dog started to present the live weekday afternoon links on CBBC for the summer.

Anne Foy presented pre-recorded in-vision links at the weekend alongside her dog, Elliot, until her departure in March 2008. Foy was replaced by two new presenters, Ben Hanson and Ciaran Joyce, who previously appeared in CBBC show The Story of Tracy Beaker. The duo previously presented in-vision links at the weekend, until December 2008 when they were replaced by Dan and Jeff. Weekend links for the CBBC Channel are now presented by Iain Stirling and Hacker T. Dog.

[edit] Presenters from 2007-present

Presenter	Years	Role
Ed Petrie	(3 September 2007 - 17 April 2009)	Weekday afternoons.
Oucho T. Cactus	(3 September 2007 - 17 April 2009)	Weekday afternoons.
Daniel Clarkson	(December 2008 - present)	(previously weekends, Weekday afternoons May 4 2009 - July 2 2009) Summer Mornings July 6 2009 -?
Jefferson Turner	(December 2008 - present)	(previously weekends, Weekday afternoons May 4 2009 - July 2 2009) Summer Mornings July 6 2009 -?
Iain Stirling	(May 23 2009 - present)	Weekday afternoons July 3 2009 -? (Weekends)
Hacker T. Dog	(May 23 2009 - present)	Weekday afternoons July 3 2009 -? (Weekends)

[edit] Former presenters

Notable former presenters have included Phillip Schofield, Andy Crane, Andi Peters, Philippa Forrester, Zoë Ball, Toby Anstis, Chris Jarvis, Kirsten O'Brien, Ana Boulter, Angellica Bell, Andrew Hayden-Smith, Gemma Hunt, Michael Underwood, Sophie McDonnell, Matt Edmondson, Anne Foy and Simon Grant

[edit] Guest/relief continuity presenters

Presenter	Year
Adam Fleming	February 2006
Ayesha Asantewaa	December 2006
Rani Price	April 2007
Ted Robbins	August 2007 & October 2007
Lee Barnett	October 2007
Ross Lee	December 2007 - January 2007
Johny Pitts	July - August 2008
Holly Walsh	September 1st 2008 - December 1st 2008 (plus a lot more dates)
Dunceton the Brain	September 2008 - December 2008
Sam Nixon	April 20 - May 1 2009 / May 25 - May 29 2009
Mark Rhodes	April 20 - May 1 2009 / May 25 - May 29 2009

[edit] Logos

These logos show how the visual style of CBBC has developed over the course of its life:

September 1985-February 1991	February 1991-October 1997	October 1997-February 2002
February 2002-September 2005	October 2005-September 2007	September 2007- present

[edit] Other services

[edit] CBBC Extra

CBBC Extra is a free interactive television service from CBBC provided by BBC Red Button. It is accessible from the CBBC Channel by pressing red and then selecting CBBC Extra. It can also be accessed from any other BBC channel by pressing red and going to page number 570. The service differs across digital platforms, for example digital satellite (i.e: Sky) viewers can access a video loop. Its availability on digital terrestrial (Freeview) is dependent upon BBCi not showing other interactive services, such as major sports events coverage.^[6]

CBBC Extra offers 'Nev's Horoscopes', games, the UK Top 40, jokes sent in by viewers and a weekly competition.

Former presenters of CBBC Extra include Matt Edmondson, Rani Price, Sophie McDonnell, Mohini Sule and Anne Foy. The current presenters are Dan and Jeff.

[edit] CBBC Quiz

This new feature allows the viewers to play a quiz. Viewers can also send in their question which could be shown to the nation. There are 5 levels, each containing 5 questions. CBBC Quiz can be found by pressing the red button on a BBC television channel and keying in page 570. Viewers then arrive at CBBC Extra and can then select the option that reads CBBC Quiz. Alternatively, viewers can tune in to the CBBC Channel, press the red button and select CBBC Quiz from the main menu.

[edit] Website

The CBBC website provides a wide range of activities for viewers, such as games, puzzles, message boards and frequently updated news feeds.

[edit] My CBBC

My CBBC is a feature to the new CBBC website. It allows the user to create their own "den" or room which the can furnish. It is also possible to create your own avatar. The new feature is heavily promoted on the CBBC Channel.

My CBBC is good for children age 7–11 years old; they make their own den talk to people. However the children can only use a set of preset messages and are only to talk to people with whom they have a mutual agreement. This is where it differs from other social networking sites.

[edit] Adventure Rock

Adventure Rock (previously named CBBC World) is a virtual online world that launched on 1 March 2008. Press releases have stated "it would allow digitally literate children the access to characters and resources they had come to expect. Users would be able to build an online presence, known as an avatar, then create and share content."

The emphasis on the system is on safety and responsibility, with no chatrooms or the financial aspects available in other online worlds such as Second Life.

Controller of Children's BBC Richard Deverell said: "Adventure Rock is a good example of the way we need to go. The thing that interests me is that children are at the vanguard. And that is where we are taking Children's BBC."^[7] A new game, Tronji, has also been created.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• CBBC at BBC Online
• CBBC - A new look at BBC Online
• "And Now, For Younger Viewers..." A history of CBBC continuity from 1985 to 1994, from Off The Telly
• The Broom Cupboard.co.uk, a history of CBBC continuity from 1985 to 1992, with over 150 pictures
• BBC considers end of children's shows on BBC 1 (Guardian)

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