NBCUniversal, which has already been evaluating its stake in the declining pay-TV business, plans to shut down cable network Universal Kids.
The move, slated to take effect March 6, comes as NBCU prepares to spin off most of its cable networks into a new, publicly traded company to be led by longtime senior exec Mark Lazarus. That transaction is expected to close by the end of 2025. Bravo is the notable holdout, expected to stay in the main corporate fold along with NBC, Telemundo and the local station portfolio.
“NBCUniversal remains committed to family entertainment, including award-winning brands Illumination and Dreamworks Animation, as well as Kids-focused programming on Peacock,” a company spokesperson told Deadline in a statement.
Universal Kids was created from the network formerly known as Sprout. That joint venture with PBS Kids was a competitor during the pre-YouTube era when Nickelodeon, Disney and Time Warner were its rivals for young viewers and families tuning in on cable. In the current environment of cord-cutting and dwindling viewership and advertising across pay-TV, the returns on continued investment in Universal Kids have grown more uncertain.
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As a brand, Universal Kids remained significant for NBCU and parent Comcast, which broke ground last year on the Universal Kids Resort theme park in Frisco, TX. The company also positioned Universal Kids as a synergistic home for DreamWorks Animation programming after Comcast acquired DWA in 2016.
Along with YouTube, whose kids-focused branch has been a significant viewership draw, major subscription video on demand services like Apple TV+, Prime Video and Netflix have made aggressive moves in the kids and animation sectors. The unsettled state of the marketplace was vividly demonstrated last month, when Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO and Max declined to renew a long-running deal with Sesame Street. The decision left the 51-year-old kids TV bedrock without a TV or streaming home to fund production of new episodes.
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