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 Thursday 20 August 2026, and with the summer holidays still on, the schedule runs at its full length rather than working around school hours.

CBBC Schedule: Thursday 20 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete CBBC schedule for Thursday 20 August 2026, on Freeview 201.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

What’s on CBBC today

Newsround keeps its regular slot at 7:45am, sandwiched between Shaun the Sheep, Danger Mouse and Super Happy Magic Forest at the top of the day and a run of Grizzy and the Lemmings, SpongeBob SquarePants and two back-to-back episodes of Duck and Frog. A new episode of The Amazing World of Gumball lands at 8:55am, then Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir and Mystery Lane carry the schedule to 9:55am, when a double bill of Teen Titans Go! takes over. SpongeBob SquarePants, Total Dramarama, What’s New Scooby-Doo? and further runs of Grizzy and the Lemmings: World Tour, Duck and Frog, Danger Mouse, Super Happy Magic Forest and Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese fill the rest of the morning ahead of Horrible Science at 12:05pm.

The afternoon opens with Horrible Science and Gladiators: Epic Pranks back to back at midday, then Bro’s in Control, The Lady Grace Mysteries and an early-afternoon Malory Towers carry things past 1pm. The Next Step: Cheer picks up at 1:55pm and Andy and the Band – Rock Star School follows at 2:20pm, before Octonauts and Shaun the Sheep run through to 3pm, when Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed! gets a double airing. Danger Mouse, two more helpings of Super Happy Magic Forest, Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese, Grizzy and the Lemmings: World Tour and another Duck and Frog keep things moving to 4:30pm, when Submarine Jim returns with a new episode. Odd Squad, Pokémon Horizons: Rising Hope, Winx Club – The Magic Is Back and a second episode of Bro’s in Control round out the pre-evening schedule before CBBC’s evening line-up gets going at 6pm.

CBBC tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the CBBC line-up for tonight, Thursday 20 August 2026. There’s no primetime here in the usual sense — the channel shuts down for the night at 6:58pm — so the closest thing to it is the teatime run below, plus three genuinely new episodes earlier in the day: The Amazing World of Gumball at 8:55am, Mystery Lane at 9:30am and Submarine Jim at 4:30pm.

Secret Life of Boys — CBBC, 6pm

Secret Life of Boys opens the evening run with “Scary Poppins” (series 4, episode 8), in which Granny Bob turns up on her motorbike determined to whip the household into shape.

Blue Peter Challenges — CBBC, 6:25pm

A short Blue Peter Challenges slot follows at 6:25pm. Cyclone from Gladiators joins Hacker T Dog to talk viewers through building their own helmet at home.

Malory Towers — CBBC, 6:30pm

Malory Towers rounds off the day with “The Traitor” (series 7, episode 9): Gwen’s plans for the future come under threat, and Jo gets an unwelcome update about the school.

Close — CBBC, 6:58pm

CBBC goes off air at 6:58pm, handing its Freeview frequency to BBC Three until programmes resume at 7am tomorrow. It’s the nightly handover, not a programme in its own right.

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 Thursday 20 August 2026 schedule runs at full length through the school summer holidays, opening with Shaun the Sheep at 7am and running through a new episode of The Amazing World of Gumball at 8:55am, a new episode of Mystery Lane at 9:30am, and Horrible Science and Malory Towers across the afternoon, plus a new episode of Submarine Jim at 4:30pm. Secret Life of Boys closes out the day at 6pm, Blue Peter Challenges follows at 6:25pm, Malory Towers airs again at 6:30pm, 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