CBBC TV Guide: Listings, Schedule & What’s On CBBC Tonight

CBBC is the BBC’s channel for children roughly aged 6 to 12, on air every day from 7am until close around 7pm on Freeview 201. No adverts, on any platform, because the TV Licence pays for it. Today is Saturday 8 August 2026, and with the summer holidays still on, the schedule runs at its full length rather than working around school hours.

CBBC Schedule: Saturday 8 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete CBBC schedule for Saturday 8 August 2026, on Freeview 201.

What’s on CBBC today

The morning opens with Shaun the Sheep at 7am, then Danger Mouse and Super Happy Magic Forest carry the schedule to Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese just before Newsround at 7:45am. Grizzy and the Lemmings gets a double outing either side of 8am, SpongeBob SquarePants follows at 8:10am, and Duck and Frog airs twice before Little Lunch takes the 8:40am slot.

Three new episodes run back to back from 8:55am: The Amazing World of Gumball, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir and Mystery Lane. Teen Titans Go! then has a double bill from 9:55am, and SpongeBob SquarePants, Total Dramarama and What’s New Scooby-Doo? carry the schedule past 10:45am. Grizzy and the Lemmings: World Tour, Duck and Frog, Danger Mouse and Super Happy Magic Forest fill the run to midday.

Horrible Science opens the afternoon at 12:05pm, and Gladiators: Epic Pranks and Bro’s in Control lead into The Primrose Railway Children at 1:05pm. The Dumping Ground takes the 1:35pm slot, then Horrible Science returns at 2pm ahead of Andy and the Band – Rock Star School at 2:30pm and a short run of Duck and Frog and Shaun the Sheep before 3pm.

Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed! airs twice from 3:05pm, and Danger Mouse and a further two episodes of Super Happy Magic Forest carry the schedule to 4pm. Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese, Grizzy and the Lemmings: World Tour and Duck and Frog fill the next twenty minutes, then Submarine Jim has a new episode at 4:30pm, Odd Squad follows at 4:45pm, and Pokémon Horizons: Rising Hope brings a new episode from 4:55pm. Winx Club – The Magic Is Back and a second helping of Bro’s in Control close out the afternoon before the evening schedule begins at 6pm.

CBBC tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the CBBC primetime line-up for tonight, Saturday 8 August 2026.

Crookhaven — CBBC, 6:10pm

The sixth of eight. The Crooklings are home and ignoring school rules, Amira and Nicki fall out as Penelope pushes for answers, and a heist in the real world puts the group in front of their enemy. The last full programme before CBBC closes at 6:58pm and hands over for the night.

What kind of shows are on CBBC

Drama

Crookhaven is the newest of CBBC’s dramas and the most ambitious: a boarding school that trains pickpockets to use the skill for good, back for a second run with a book range to go with it. Jamie Johnson FC, the football drama, is four series deep. Those two and Malory Towers give older viewers the thing most of the schedule can’t, which is characters and storylines that carry from one week to the next.

Comedy and animation

Most of the daytime is short-form comedy and animation. Danger Mouse and Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed! keep the old British characters ticking over, SpongeBob SquarePants and Teen Titans Go! cover the American imports, and newer originals like Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese and Duck and Frog fill the ten- and fifteen-minute gaps between them. The one worth actually sitting down for is Odd Squad, a live-action comedy about child agents who solve their cases with maths.

Factual and entertainment

Horrible Science, Operation Ouch!, Gladiators: Epic Pranks and Deadly Dinosaurs with Steve Backshall keep CBBC’s factual slots closer to sketch comedy or a game show than a documentary.

News and long-running strands

Newsround goes out every morning, weekends included, and it is still proper news explained without talking down. Blue Peter is the channel’s other fixture: into its seventh decade, having changed presenters dozens of times and almost nothing else.

How to watch CBBC

Channel numbers

Here’s where to find CBBC across the main UK television platforms:

CBBC is free on all of the above platforms, with no subscription required.

Streaming online

CBBC streams live and free on BBC iPlayer at bbc.co.uk/iplayer, and via the iPlayer app on smart TVs, phones, tablets, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and most streaming sticks. You’ll need a free BBC account, which costs nothing to set up. Most CBBC programmes also stay available on demand for at least 30 days after broadcast, so a missed episode of Crookhaven or Blue Peter is rarely gone for good. A valid TV Licence is required to watch live or to stream a programme on the day it airs.

CBBC and CBeebies

CBeebies is the sister channel for the under-6s, on Freeview channel 202 from around 6am to 7pm. Shorter programmes, slower pace, nothing that has to be followed week to week. The switch across usually happens when talking animals stop cutting it and teen drama is still a way off, which is more or less the gap CBBC was built to sit in. See our CBeebies TV guide for that channel’s full schedule.

Frequently asked questions

What’s on CBBC today?

CBBC’s Saturday 8 August 2026 schedule runs full-length through the school summer holidays. Newsround has its usual 7:45am slot, the middle of the day runs through Horrible Science, Gladiators: Epic Pranks and The Dumping Ground, and the evening closes out with Still So Awkward at 6pm and Malory Towers at 6:30pm before CBBC hands over to BBC Three at 6:58pm. Full times are in the schedule table above.

What time does CBBC start and finish each day?

CBBC broadcasts from 7am to 7pm every day, then hands its frequency to BBC Three until 7am the next morning.

Is CBBC free to watch, and does it carry adverts?

Yes, CBBC has no adverts on any platform. It’s funded by the TV Licence rather than advertising, though a valid TV Licence is required to watch it live or on the day of broadcast via iPlayer.

Can I watch CBBC on BBC iPlayer?

Yes. CBBC streams live on BBC iPlayer and most programmes stay available on demand for at least 30 days afterwards. You’ll need a free BBC account and a valid TV Licence to watch live or same-day content.

What’s the difference between CBBC and CBeebies?

CBBC is for roughly 6-to-12-year-olds and includes longer dramas, competitive formats and Newsround. CBeebies is aimed at under-6s, with shorter, gentler programmes and a calmer pace.

Verdict

The pitch for a parent is simple enough. Twelve hours a day you don’t have to vet first, and no autoplay quietly nudging a seven-year-old towards something you’d rather they hadn’t found.

Thursday follows the same shape as any other day here. Hours of short-form animation, a returning drama saved for last, then the frequency handed to BBC Three for the night.

Related: What’s On TV Tonight | CBeebies TV Guide | BBC iPlayer Guide