New kidsnet Moochi launches on Freeview in the UK

The linear channel for preschoolers to tweens rolled out yesterday with content from 9 Story, Jetpack and Monster Entertainment.
November 23, 2023

A new kids channel called Moochi has just launched in the UK on digital TV platform Freeview in a bid to fill the gap left by bigger broadcasters shutting down their linear services in the region. 

London-based investment firm Graft Ventures is financing the channel, which is available in more than 12 million homes through Freeview’s linear service and the Freeview Play app for smart TVs and phones. British consulting firm Eclipse Productions is heading up Moochi’s content and creative strategy, with MediaPaeda Broadcast and PACE Media Development handling broadcasting and transmission operations. 

Moochi rolled out yesterday with content from 9 Story Media Group, Jetpack Distribution and Monster Entertainment. Its programming lineup features a mix of shows for preschoolers to tweens, including Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Misho and Robin, Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum and Jamie’s Got Tentacles

Eclipse is currently on the hunt to build out Moochi’s schedule with shows in development and acquisitions looking for a new broadcast home in the UK, says executive creative director Peter Drake.  

This channel launch is timed to fill a hole left in the market by bigger broadcasters shifting to streaming. ITV is in the process of migrating all of its children’s programming to ITVX Kids, the BBC has also announced its intention to focus on digital and exit the linear TV business over the next few years, and Disney shuttered its linear kids channel in the UK three years ago to push audiences over to Disney+. 

Interestingly, British broadcaster Sky has also seen these moves as a market opportunity and started up Sky Kids, its first-ever linear channel, last year.

“Creating and launching an all-new kids channel on Freeview in the UK today could be considered an unexpected move,” Drake acknowledges. “But since some of the big beasts of the kids world have left the linear broadcast space, there’s now room for new channels to thrive and become great new destinations for advertisers.” 

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