The Pop family of children’s channels is closing down on traditional TV platforms this December, marking the end of over two decades of broadcasting – and leaving the BBC as the sole provider of free-to-air linear children’s television in the UK.
Pop, Tiny Pop and their associated services will cease broadcasting on Sky and Virgin Media, while the last remaining over-the-air channel on Freeview – Pop on Channel 205 – will switch to become a streaming-only FAST channel.
The Pop Player app and website will also shut down completely across all platforms.
Here’s everything we know about the upcoming changes.
The History Of Pop Channels
Pop has been a fixture of UK children’s television for over 22 years. The channel originally launched on 29 May 2003 as Toons&Tunes by Chart Show Channels (CSC) Media Group, before being rebranded to Pop just a month later.
In its early years, the channel featured a mix of music videos and animated programming, though it quickly pivoted to focus primarily on children’s content as music videos became less viable.
Tiny Pop launched in July 2004 (originally as Pop Plus) to cater to younger children and pre-schoolers, while Pop Max – which started life as Kix! in 2008 – targeted older children with action-packed content including Pokémon and Power Rangers.
The channels expanded significantly over the years. Pop joined Freeview in March 2014, initially only in areas with local TV coverage, before expanding to nationwide coverage in April 2016, reaching over 90% of the country.
Pop Player, the on-demand streaming platform, launched on Freeview Play in 2020, bringing together content from all three channels in one convenient app.
The channels changed hands several times – Sony Pictures Television acquired them from CSC Media Group in 2014, before selling the entire portfolio to Narrative Entertainment in 2021.
What’s Happening To The Pop Channels?
From December 2025, here’s what’s changing:
On Freeview, Pop on Channel 205 – currently the only Pop channel still available via aerial broadcast – will become a streaming-only service. This means you’ll need an internet-connected Freeview device to watch it, rather than just a standard aerial.
The other Pop channels on Freeview (Tiny Pop on 206, Pop Up on 207, Pop Player on 208) are already streaming-only services, and will continue in their current format.
On Sky and Virgin Media, all Pop channels will close completely. Pop, Tiny Pop and their +1 variants will disappear from the channel lineup entirely (Pop Max was already removed earlier this year).
Pop Player – the on-demand streaming app and website that brought together content from Pop, Tiny Pop and Pop Max – will shut down across all platforms, including mobile devices, smart TVs, Freeview Play and the website.
However, Pop’s FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) channels will continue on Freeview and on smart TV platforms like Samsung TV Plus and LG Channels, both in the UK and internationally.
These streaming-only services will remain available for viewers with compatible internet-connected devices.
A Gradual Decline
The past two years have seen the Pop channels steadily retreat from traditional broadcasting platforms.
In February 2024, Pop and other Narrative Entertainment channels were removed from Freesat.
In December 2024, Pop Max disappeared from Freeview as a traditional aerial broadcast channel, though it returned in August 2025 as a streaming-only hybrid channel.
Pop Max on Sky closed entirely in April 2025, with its content moving to Pop Player and the main Pop channel.
Earlier in 2024, Tiny Pop was briefly removed from linear TV, only to be reinstated five months later – a decision that Narrative’s Managing Director said at the time was made after listening to viewer feedback.
Why Are The Channels Closing?
Paul Dunthorne, Managing Director at Narrative Entertainment, which owns the Pop channels, explained the decision to Cord Busters:
“With commercial value across the UK kids’ TV market now just 4% of what it was ten years ago, we’ve taken the decision to close our linear POP channels at the end of the year.”
“We understand the importance of offering high-quality kids’ TV, and we’ve done everything that we can to maintain POP. But free-to-air channels for this audience are simply not commercially viable without PSB-style funding.”
Dunthorne added: “We will retain our POP presence on FAST channels in the UK on Freeview, Samsung and LG and other platforms, and internationally, as these continue to offer commercial opportunities.”
As first reported by C21Media, the closure reflects a wider crisis in UK children’s television, with young viewers rapidly abandoning traditional linear TV in favour of streaming platforms and social video services like YouTube.
When CITV shut down in September 2023 (with some of its content moving to ITVX) Pop became the UK’s only dedicated free-to-air commercial children’s broadcaster.
With Pop now leaving traditional platforms, the BBC’s CBBC and CBeebies will be the only remaining free-to-air linear channels dedicated to children’s content in the UK – alongside Channel 5’s Milkshake! pre-school programming strand.
For now, Pop’s FAST channels will continue to offer free children’s content – but only for those with fast broadband and compatible devices.
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