Universal Kids
Final logo used from 2019 to 2025 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English Spanish (via SAP audio track) |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | PBS (2005–2013) Sesame Workshop (2005–2013) HIT Entertainment (2005–2012) Apax Partners (2005–2013) NBCUniversal (Comcast) |
| Parent | NBCUniversal Media Group |
| Sister channels | |
| History | |
| Launched | September 26, 2005 |
| Replaced | PBS Kids Channel (original incarnation from 1999–2005) |
| Closed | March 6, 2025 |
| Replaced by | MeTV Toons (DirectTV) |
| Former names |
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| Links | |
| Website | universalkids.com (archived April 2019) |
Universal Kids was an American children's cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast.
The channel launched on September 26, 2005, as PBS Kids Sprout, a preschool-oriented offshoot of PBS Kids established as a joint venture between PBS, Comcast, Sesame Workshop, and HIT Entertainment. It replaced PBS's original 24-hour PBS Kids Channel, which operated between 1999 and 2005 before being revived in 2017. After Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal in 2011, the company began to buy out the remaining owners' shares in the network. NBCUniversal became the sole owner in 2013, after which the network was renamed Sprout. Under NBCUniversal ownership, the network increased its investments into original programming.
In 2017, the network relaunched as Universal Kids, adding an evening and prime time lineup targeting a wider youth audience—including DreamWorks Animation content, non-scripted programming (including game shows and youth spin-offs of NBCUniversal reality series such as American Ninja Warrior and Top Chef), and acquired teen dramas. The Sprout brand was retained for the network's daytime lineup of preschool programming until January 2018.
Amid industry-wide declines in the viewership of children's cable channels, Universal Kids ceased developing new original programming in 2019, and the channel largely relied on acquisitions and DreamWorks library content afterward. Its remaining first-run programming moved to NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock. Eventually, the channel closed on March 6, 2025.