Who offers the best kids TV content?

For live kids' TV channels, Sky and Virgin Media both offer dedicated kids TV packs, with popular channels including Nickelodeon, Nick Toons, Boomerang and Cartoon Network.

However, on-demand streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video also offer extensive libraries of children's programmes and family-friendly films, often reducing the need for live channels altogether.

All of the major streaming platforms also support dedicated kids' profiles, allowing parents to apply age ratings, content filters and viewing restrictions so children only see suitable content.

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TL:DR: Where is best for kids' TV?

Sky is currently the best option for kids' TV, offering the widest mix of live children's channels, on-demand content and parental controls, now strengthened by the return of Disney Junior to the Sky Kids pack.

While both Sky and Virgin Media offer dedicated children's TV add-ons, Sky's Kids pack stands out for its broader channel line-up and the included Sky Kids app, which adds thousands of on-demand episodes and interactive content.

Sky's Kids pack includes the following channels:

Sky Kids is an ad-free channel with popular children's TV content and new originals from Sky. The pack also includes a range of educational programming designed to support learning at home.

In late 2025, Sky strengthened its kids' line-up further by adding Disney Junior to the Sky Kids pack, bringing more preschool favourites alongside existing Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network content.

Families can also download shows and movies to tablets using the Sky Go app, making it easy for children to watch offline - particularly useful for travel or holidays.

Virgin Media also offers a dedicated kids' TV pack, which includes eight main children's channels plus selected +1 variants. The pack costs £5 per month and can be added to most Virgin Media TV bundles, including Flex.

Whichever Virgin Media TV bundle you choose, the kids' TV pack includes the following channels:

Virgin Media TV and broadband bundles start from £34.99 per month with Mega TV. Customers looking for a lower-cost option can instead choose Virgin Media Flex, which costs £5 per month plus any additional channel packs or streaming subscriptions.

While Sky includes BabyTV within its kids' TV pack at no extra cost, Virgin Media treats BabyTV as a separate add-on, priced at an additional £5 per month.

Other options for kids' TV include BT and EE, both of which offer access to NOW Memberships through their TV platforms. The NOW Entertainment Membership, priced at £9.99 per month, bundles Sky Entertainment for adults and also includes the NOW Kids pack at no extra cost.

When accessed via the NOW app - including on BT TV and EE TV - the Entertainment Membership includes the following seven live kids' TV channels at no additional charge:

NOW Entertainment also includes a wide range of on-demand shows from these kids' channels (with the exception of Cartoonito), alongside additional box sets from Milkshake!, CBeebies and CBBC.

While adding kids' TV via NOW on BT TV or EE TV typically costs a little more than taking a dedicated kids' pack with Sky or Virgin Media, the NOW Entertainment Membership also bundles a broad range of premium entertainment channels at the same time.

These include Sky Atlantic, Sky Max, Sky Showcase, Sky Witness, Sky Comedy, Sky Documentaries, Sky History, Sky Nature, Sky Crime, Sky Arts, Sky Sci-Fi, Gold, MTV, Comedy Central and Alibi.

Most of these channels are included within Sky Ultimate TV, while many (excluding Sky Atlantic) are also available through Virgin Media bundles such as Mega TV, or via the Essential Entertainment add-on on Virgin Media Flex.

Overall, the cheapest and most straightforward way to get dedicated kids' TV is still to add a children's pack to a standard pay TV plan, with Sky and Virgin Media offering the most competitive pricing and the widest range of child-focused channels.

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Kids TV on Sky

Best for: Families who want premium kids' TV and wider home entertainment in one place.

Sky is our top choice for kids' TV overall, combining a dedicated children's channel pack with strong parental controls, on-demand box sets and integration with the wider Sky TV platform.

Sky's Kids TV pack includes a broad mix of preschool, animation and older-kids channels, alongside educational content and age-based viewing controls to help parents manage what children can watch.

Families can also download selected programmes using the Sky Go app to watch offline on tablets and smartphones, which is particularly useful for travel and holidays.

The Sky Kids TV pack costs £8 per month for existing customers, or £6 per month for 24 months when taken by new Sky TV customers.

The plan above includes Sky Entertainment, giving access to over 100 TV channels including Sky Atlantic and Sky Max, alongside a bundled Netflix subscription, so there's plenty of content for adults as well as children.

For families looking to maximise value, it's also possible to bundle Sky broadband from around £20 per month. Sky typically discounts TV and broadband when taken together, saving customers around £5 per month compared with buying the services separately.

In addition to the Kids TV pack, Sky TV also includes access to free-to-air children's channels available via the Freeview channel list, alongside support for catch-up and streaming apps such as BBC iPlayer and YouTube.

At present, CBBC and CBeebies are the only children's channels still widely available as traditional free-to-air linear TV channels. Other long-running kids' brands such as POP, POP Max and Tiny Pop are no longer part of Sky's standard channel line-up, with POP Max already withdrawn and the remaining POP-branded channels transitioning away from linear broadcast towards streaming and FAST-style services instead.

Sky's dedicated kids' TV pack includes the following children's channels:

Sky's kids' pack also includes extensive on-demand content through the Sky Kids app, which brings together thousands of episodes from children's channels alongside a large library of educational and family-friendly games.

Another advantage of Sky TV is that many plans include Netflix, giving families access to a wide range of additional kids' series and films under the same subscription.

The Sky Stream platform also supports a broad range of streaming apps, including Disney+, allowing parents to add and manage extra children's content within a single interface.

Families who take Sky Cinema also gain access to dedicated family-friendly movie channels, including Sky Cinema Family and Sky Cinema Animation. These regularly feature popular titles such as the Harry Potter series, The Lego Movie, The Secret Life of Pets, Dora the Explorer and The Angry Birds Movie.

Overall, for households looking for a comprehensive pay TV service that combines live kids' channels, on-demand content, parental controls and broad app support, Sky TV remains one of the strongest all-round options for families.

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Kids TV on Virgin Media

Best for: Families who want kids' TV alongside ultrafast broadband.

Unlike Sky TV, which can be taken on its own or bundled with broadband, Virgin Media TV is only available alongside a Virgin Media broadband package.

For many households, this can offer good overall value, particularly where faster broadband speeds are a priority, as Virgin Media's TV and broadband bundles are often priced competitively compared with standalone services.

Virgin Media offers a dedicated kids' TV pack that includes eight main children's channels, along with selected +1 variants. Children can also watch content on tablets and other devices using the Virgin TV Go app, which supports downloads for offline viewing.

The kids' TV pack costs an additional £5 per month and is available on a rolling monthly basis. For families with very young children, BabyTV is available as a separate add-on for a further £5 per month, whereas Sky includes BabyTV within its standard kids' TV pack.

Both of the above options are the cheapest entry-level TV deals available with the Stream box on Flex and Mega TV with the Entertainment plan.

Virgin Media's standard TV packages include only the BBC's children's channels (CBBC and CBeebies) as free-to-air options. Other legacy children's channels that once appeared on cable platforms are no longer carried as live broadcast channels.

Instead, Virgin Media places more emphasis on on-demand viewing. Its TV boxes support a wide range of catch-up and streaming apps including BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4, My5 and YouTube, all of which include dedicated children's sections.

Families who want a broader range of children's TV will typically need to add Virgin Media's paid kids' TV pack, or rely on streaming services such as Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+, all of which are supported on Virgin Media TV boxes and offer strong parental controls.

As with Sky, it's also possible to expand family-friendly viewing further by adding services such as Sky Cinema or Disney+ through the Virgin Media platform.

The Kids Pick on Virgin Media adds the following childrens' channels:

The channel line-up on Virgin Media is broadly similar to Sky, but it is not identical. While both providers offer a strong selection of mainstream children's channels and include access to Sky Kids, Virgin Media does not carry Disney Junior, which Sky added to its kids' TV pack in November 2025.

One area where Virgin Media does stand out is broadband performance. The Mega TV Entertainment plan includes M350 fibre broadband as standard, with faster M500 and Gig1 options also available for households that prioritise download speeds.

Virgin Media has also established a pattern of temporarily opening up its Kids TV pack to customers at no extra cost during school holidays. Most recently, families were given free access to the full kids' channel line-up in October 2025, timed around the autumn half-term.

This isn't a one-off promotion. Similar free-access periods were offered during October half-term in 2022, 2023 and 2024, making it a recurring perk for existing Virgin Media TV customers to watch out for.

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Kids TV on BT & EE TV

Best for: EE broadband customers who want kids' TV alongside premium entertainment and sport.

BT TV, now sold under the EE TV brand, uses NOW Memberships to add entertainment and kids' content on top of Freeview. Families can access children's programming by taking the NOW Entertainment Membership, either bundled with an EE TV plan or added separately.

Because NOW is integrated into the EE TV Box Pro, families also benefit from features not available when subscribing to NOW directly, including the ability to pause, rewind and record live kids' TV.

By default, NOW content on EE TV streams in up to 720p HD. Parents who want full 1080p HD viewing and ad-skipping can add NOW Boost for an extra £6 per month.

NOW Entertainment includes seven live kids' TV channels, including Sky Kids, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. It also provides on-demand content from these channels (excluding Cartoonito), alongside box sets from Milkshake!, CBeebies and CBBC.

It's not possible to take these channels separately from NOW Entertainment, so BT TV customers will need to take either the BT Entertainment plan or add NOW Entertainment to their bundle for £9.99 per month.

NOW Entertainment also includes:

These BT TV packages include NOW Entertainment and the kids' channels as standard:

Whichever plan a customer takes on BT or EE TV, they'll have access to Freeview via the BT TV Box Pro. For households using an aerial, the only children's channels currently available as live, free-to-air broadcasts are CBBC and CBeebies.

As with Sky, additional children's content is primarily accessed through on-demand and streaming apps rather than traditional linear TV channels, with BBC iPlayer providing the widest range of free children's programming.

The same deals are also available under the EE broadband & TV brand.

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Kids' TV on streaming services

In addition to the pay TV platforms and live kids' TV channels covered above, families can also access a huge amount of children's content through on-demand streaming services.

Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ are all supported on Sky and Virgin Media TV boxes, as well as on TalkTalk's current Android TV Hub. BT and EE TV support Netflix and Prime Video, but do not currently offer native support for Disney+ on the TV Box Pro.

Below, we break down the children's content available on the main streaming services and explain which platforms work best for different ages and viewing habits.

1. Amazon Prime Video

Best for: All-round kids' entertainment.
Price: £8.99 per month (or £11.98 per month ad-free)

Amazon Prime Video might not be the first service that comes to mind for children's content, but it offers one of the largest and most varied libraries available to families.

Kids can watch popular TV shows and films such as Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol and a wide range of animated and live-action movies, alongside plenty of lesser-known series that add variety beyond the usual franchises.

What sets Prime Video apart is the breadth of its catalogue. Content comes from multiple studios and producers, giving families access to programmes suitable for toddlers, younger children and older kids, all within a single subscription.

There are dedicated Kids categories and age ratings to help parents find suitable content, along with a growing selection of Amazon Originals designed specifically for family viewing.

One notable omission is Disney-owned content, which is exclusive to Disney+. Families who want access to Pixar, Marvel or classic Disney films will need a separate Disney+ subscription.

Prime Video allows parents to create a Kids profile that restricts access to content rated suitable for children aged 12 and under. Purchasing and rentals are disabled by default on Kids profiles, preventing accidental charges.

One small caveat is that downloaded content tied to the main account can still appear within Kids profiles, even if it is not age-appropriate. While this is unlikely to affect most households, it's something parents should be aware of.

Despite this, Amazon Prime Video remains one of the strongest value options for families, offering a huge range of kids' TV and films as part of a wider entertainment and delivery bundle.

2. Disney Plus

Best for: Disney and Pixar fans
Price: From £5.99 per month (£9.99 ad-free, £14.99 Premium)

After Disney closed its UK TV channels in 2020, Disney+ became the primary home for Disney-owned content in the UK.

Disney+ now offers three subscription tiers. The cheapest option starts from £5.99 per month and is ad-supported, while families who want uninterrupted viewing will need the £9.99 per month Standard plan. A Premium tier (£14.99) adds 4K Ultra HD and more simultaneous streams, but most families will find Standard sufficient.

As expected, Disney+ hosts the full back catalogue of Disney and Pixar films and series, alongside dedicated kids' sections that group together content originally associated with Disney Channel and Disney Junior. This makes it easy for families to find age-appropriate shows without trawling the wider catalogue.

Beyond animation, Disney+ also includes family-friendly factual and non-fiction programming through National Geographic, which can appeal to older children with interests in animals, nature and science.

Each account can have up to seven profiles, with kids' profiles locked to age-appropriate ratings. Parents can set content restrictions at profile level, helping ensure children don't access material intended for older viewers.

One drawback is that Disney+ is largely limited to Disney-owned content. While the catalogue is deep, families looking for wider variety may still want to combine it with another service such as Netflix or Prime Video.

It's also worth noting that Disney has begun returning some children's content to pay TV. In 2025, Disney Junior rejoined Sky's Kids TV pack, marking a shift from Disney's earlier strategy of keeping all kids' viewing exclusive to Disney+.

Even with that change, Disney+ remains one of the strongest and most family-friendly streaming services available, particularly for households with younger children who want safe, recognisable content in one place.

3. Netflix

Best for: Variety across ages
Price: From £5.99 (£12.99 ad-free)

Netflix remains the most widely used streaming service in the UK and offers a broad mix of children's films, animated series and family-friendly originals.

The cheapest option is Netflix Standard with Ads, which costs £5.99 per month and includes full 1080p HD streaming on up to two screens. While adverts are present, this tier is often sufficient for casual family viewing.

Most families who use Netflix regularly tend to choose the Standard plan (£12.99 per month), which removes adverts, allows downloads, and supports two simultaneous streams. Larger households may opt for Premium (£18.99 per month), which increases this to four screens and adds 4K Ultra HD where available.

Netflix's main strength for kids is the sheer range of content. Live-action series sit alongside animation, with well-known franchises, original characters and a steady flow of exclusive Netflix Originals. Content is grouped by theme and age range, making it easy to browse by interest.

Parents can create dedicated Kids profiles with maturity ratings set by age, ensuring children only see appropriate programmes. Profiles also limit recommendations to child-friendly content, helping reduce accidental exposure to unsuitable shows.

The downside is that Netflix's size can be a double-edged sword. Alongside high-quality originals, there is also a large volume of lower-budget or repetitive content, meaning parents may still need to curate what their children watch.

Overall, Netflix works best for families who want variety and flexibility, particularly where children of different ages share the same household and viewing tastes change frequently.

4. BBC iPlayer

Best for: Free, trusted kids' TV and educational content

BBC iPlayer is effectively a free option for kids' TV, provided the household is covered by a valid TV licence.

As part of the BBC's public service remit, iPlayer maintains a dedicated children's section covering both CBeebies and CBBC. This includes a mix of entertainment and educational programming designed specifically for different age groups.

Popular titles regularly available include long-running favourites such as Bluey, Hey Duggee, Octonauts, Numberblocks, Horrible Histories and The Dumping Ground, alongside short-form educational shows aimed at early learning.

While BBC iPlayer doesn't offer the vast on-demand libraries of Netflix or Disney+, it excels at age-appropriate, well-curated content with strong educational value and no advertising.

For many families, iPlayer works best as a complementary service rather than a primary kids' TV platform - ideal for trusted, high-quality viewing, but unlikely to keep children occupied long-term on its own.

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Verdict: Where is best for kids' TV?

For families looking for the most complete kids' TV offering, Sky TV is currently the strongest option overall.

Sky combines the widest range of live kids' channels, extensive on-demand content and robust parental controls within a single platform, making it easy for children to watch safely without juggling multiple apps or subscriptions.

A significant recent change that strengthens Sky's lead is the return of Disney Junior to the Sky Kids TV pack in 2025. Disney removed its UK TV channels in 2020 as part of the Disney+ launch, pushing much of its preschool content behind a separate streaming subscription. Bringing Disney Junior back to a linear TV channel gives parents a simpler, more traditional way for younger children to watch familiar content.

This move puts Sky clearly ahead of Virgin Media for preschool viewing. Virgin Media does not currently carry Disney Junior, and families must rely on Disney+ or on-demand apps instead.

Sky's kids' TV pack also includes BabyTV at no extra cost, alongside Sky Kids' ad-free content, educational shows and downloadable viewing through the Sky Go app. For new Sky customers, the discounted kids' pack pricing makes it particularly good value.

Virgin Media remains a strong alternative for families who prioritise ultrafast broadband and flexible TV options such as Flex. Its kids' TV pack is competitively priced, but BabyTV costs extra and the overall line-up lacks some of Sky's newer additions.

BT and EE TV are best suited to households that already use their broadband services and want kids' content bundled into NOW Entertainment. While this offers good access to Sky Kids and other children's channels, it is less comprehensive than Sky's dedicated kids' ecosystem.

Streaming services such as Disney+, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video remain excellent complements for kids' viewing, particularly for films and box sets. However, for families who want the broadest mix of live kids' channels, on-demand content and simple parental controls in one place, Sky is currently the best all-round choice.