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 Wednesday 12 August 2026, and with the summer holidays still on, the schedule runs at its full length rather than working around school hours.

CBBC Schedule: Wednesday 12 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete CBBC schedule for Wednesday 12 August 2026, on Freeview 201.

What’s on CBBC today

Newsround keeps its 7:45am slot in a morning otherwise given over to short-form animation, opening with Shaun the Sheep at 7am. 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! gets a rare double bill from 9:55am.

Horrible Science and Gladiators: Epic Pranks anchor the lunchtime run either side of The Dumping Ground at 1:25pm. The fourth and final premiere of the day, Submarine Jim, lands at 4:30pm, followed by an established run of Pokémon Horizons: Rising Hope at 4:55pm, before Winx Club: The Magic Is Back and a second helping of Bro’s in Control close out into the evening schedule.

CBBC tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the CBBC evening line-up for Wednesday 12 August 2026, the last hour before the channel hands over to BBC Three.

Secret Life of Boys — CBBC, 6pm

Series four’s second episode has Ginger and Heath turning a dance-off into a full-blown rivalry, while Robbie is chasing every last penny to buy himself a motorbike and Corey tries to talk Matt round from a bad mood.

Blue Peter Challenges — CBBC, 6:20pm

Tonight’s spin-off outing takes a presenter backstage at Starlight Express, the roller-skating stage musical, for a look at how the cast pulls off the wheeled choreography night after night.

Malory Towers — CBBC, 6:30pm

Gwen has a plan to get Miss Grayling’s actress cousin, Lily Vernon, to visit the school, and she is not above roping in the rest of the dorm to make it happen (series 7, episode 3).

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 Wednesday 12 August 2026 schedule runs at full length through the school summer holidays. New episodes are scattered through the morning and afternoon, and the evening 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.

It won’t compete with CBeebies for calm, or with streaming for anything aimed at teenagers, and it isn’t trying to. What it offers is Newsround done properly, and a schedule either side of it that doesn’t need a parent hovering.

Related: What’s On TV Tonight | CBeebies TV Guide | Films on TV This Week