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

Published: 25 August 2026

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 26 August 2026, and with the summer holidays still running, the schedule keeps its full length rather than trimming around school hours.

CBBC Schedule: Wednesday 26 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete CBBC schedule for Wednesday 26 August 2026, on Freeview 201.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

What’s on CBBC today

Wednesday’s line-up opens at 7am with Shaun the Sheep, then Danger Mouse, Super Happy Magic Forest and Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese carry the schedule to Newsround’s regular 7:45am slot. Grizzy and the Lemmings doubles up either side of 8am, SpongeBob SquarePants follows at 8:10am, and Duck and Frog repeats itself a few minutes later, before Little Lunch and a new episode of The Amazing World of Gumball close out the hour. Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir opens the 9am slot and Mystery Lane follows at 9:30am, then Teen Titans Go! runs twice from 9:55am. SpongeBob SquarePants, Total Dramarama and What’s New Scooby-Doo? take the schedule through to 11am, where Grizzy and the Lemmings and Duck and Frog each return once more before Danger Mouse, Super Happy Magic Forest and Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese carry the morning up to midday.

The afternoon runs Horrible Science at 12:05pm into Gladiators: Epic Pranks and Bro’s in Control, then Deadly 60 opens the 1pm hour ahead of Malory Towers and The Next Step: Cheer. Pokémon Horizons: The Series, DIY Deadly with Steve Backshall and Octonauts take the schedule to 3pm, where Shaun the Sheep, Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed! and Danger Mouse lead into a Super Happy Magic Forest double. Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese, Grizzy and the Lemmings and Duck and Frog run through to 4:30pm, when a new episode of Submarine Jim airs, followed by Odd Squad and Pokémon Horizons: Rising Hope. The evening is short tonight: a new episode of Winx Club – The Magic Is Back opens it at 5:20pm, Andy and the Band – Rock Star School follows at 5:45pm, then Secret Life of Boys takes the 6:05pm slot, The Next Step returns at 6:25pm and Blue Peter Challenges closes out the day at 6:50pm, before CBBC signs off at 6:58pm.

CBBC tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

CBBC’s evening is short and it looks different from yesterday’s: My Life: Top Dog has dropped out of the line-up and The Next Step is back in its place, alongside Blue Peter Challenges. Here’s the full run from 5:20pm to close on Wednesday 26 August 2026.

Winx Club – The Magic Is Back — CBBC, 5:20pm

A new episode of Winx Club – The Magic Is Back (series 1, episode 22) opens the evening at 5:20pm.

Andy and the Band – Rock Star School — CBBC, 5:45pm

Andy and the Band – Rock Star School (series 6, episode 3) follows at 5:45pm, running through to 6:05pm.

Secret Life of Boys — CBBC, 6:05pm

The Pranksgiving episode of Secret Life of Boys lands at 6:05pm, with a prank contest between the housemates escalating well past the point anyone finds it funny.

The Next Step — CBBC, 6:25pm

The Next Step returns at 6:25pm after sitting out last night’s schedule, with Dreamers in Tune finding A-Troupe trying to keep their heads down and stay focused with regionals bearing down on them.

Blue Peter Challenges — CBBC, 6:50pm

Blue Peter Challenges closes out the evening’s programming at 6:50pm.

CBBC then goes off air at 6:58pm with a “programmes start at 7.00am” card, and hands its frequency to BBC Three overnight.

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 26 August 2026 schedule runs at full length through the school summer holidays, opening with Shaun the Sheep at 7am and running through The Amazing World of Gumball, Deadly 60 and a run of afternoon regulars including Malory Towers, Octonauts and Horrible Science. The evening is a short one: a new episode of Winx Club – The Magic Is Back at 5:20pm, Andy and the Band – Rock Star School at 5:45pm, Secret Life of Boys at 6:05pm, The Next Step at 6:25pm and Blue Peter Challenges at 6:50pm, before CBBC signs off for the night 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