Select a region
The BBC has unveiled a new version of their iPlayer app aimed specifically at children, which is set to offer more than 10,000 episodes of content each year.
BBC iPlayer Kids, which launches today, is a standalone iPlayer app that curates BBC content from both the CBeebies and CBBC channels for children depending on their age. The app will be free to download and allows up to four children to create profiles – with the content the app pushes to them tweaked according to their age.
The BBC said that the iPlayer app received 2.9 billion requests for TV shows last year, a third of which were for children’s programming, a sign of demand for a dedicated app for younger viewers.
Alice Webb, the director of BBC Children’s said: “Children have always been a priority for the BBC. So launching the BBC iPlayer Kids app is a really exciting moment for us – and we can’t wait to see millions of children get excited about it too.
“The BBC iPlayer Kids app meets the needs we know are absolute deal breakers for kids and parents. We’re offering, choice and control, wrapped up in a child-friendly design and the largest range of home-grown UK content on a platform parents can trust. In a nutshell, the app is CBBC and CBeebies in their hands – a BBC iPlayer re-designed for a new, digitally-savvy generation. It’s free of charge, free from commercial influence and brand new today.”
All of the content within the new app, which is free to download on iOS, Android and Amazon devices, is filtered age appropriately, with profiles of children under 10 unable to access the CBBC channel and the more mature shows it produces. Parental controls within the app also place a pin lock on the settings. The search function shows different results depending on the age of the child using it.
BBC director general Tony Hall said: “To see the innovation and the way in which we change what we offer based on how kids are consuming it is really good.
“From an adult’s point of view you can feel safe and secure too, which is really important.”
Responding to questions over the possibility of the new app interfering with the bedtime routines of families around the country by offering endless and instantly accessible content to iPlayer Kids users, the BBC argued they were offering “choice and control” to both parents and children.
