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

Published: 2 September 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 Thursday 3 September 2026, an ordinary weekday on the CBBC schedule.

CBBC Schedule: Thursday 3 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete CBBC schedule for Thursday 3 September 2026, on Freeview 201.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

What’s on CBBC today

Thursday’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. A Grizzy and the Lemmings double bill and a SpongeBob SquarePants follow, Duck and Frog doubles up either side of half past eight, and Odd Squad takes 8:40am ahead of a new episode of The Amazing World of Gumball at 8:55am. Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir and Mystery Lane open the 9am hour, then a Teen Titans Go! double bill, another SpongeBob SquarePants and Total Dramarama carry things toward 11am, when Grizzy and the Lemmings: World Tour and a further Duck and Frog double bill take the schedule through to midday.

The afternoon opens with Game on Grandparents at 12:05pm, then Andy and the Band, Football Fantastics, Octonauts, Big Lizard and Piripenguins run through to half past one. Duck and Frog and Super Happy Magic Forest lead into My Life: Top Dog at 2pm and Deadly Predators at 2:30pm. A second Shaun the Sheep and a Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed! double bill open the 3pm hour, and Danger Mouse, a Super Happy Magic Forest double bill and Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese run through to half past four. A new episode of Submarine Jim airs at 4:35pm and Odd Squad returns at 4:45pm. The evening proper starts at 5pm with What’s New Scooby-Doo?, then Winx Club – The Magic Is Back at 5:20pm and Andy and the Band – Rock Star School at 5:45pm lead into Secret Life of Boys at 6:05pm and The Next Step at 6:25pm. Blue Peter Challenges takes the last slot at 6:50pm, with Ben Nutall and Hacker T Dog helping build a World Cup trophy out of tissue paper and cardboard, before the channel closes for the night at 6:58pm with a card confirming programmes resume at 7am.

CBBC tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the CBBC primetime line-up for tonight, Thursday 3 September 2026.

Secret Life of Boys — CBBC, 6:05pm

The Hughes family are moving house in tonight’s episode (series 5, episode 8), and there’s more looking back than packing as they go room by room remembering happier times there.

The Next Step — CBBC, 6:25pm

Ariana can’t decide whether to keep Team Brawl’s secret, Michelle and Eldon end up dwelling on old history together, and Anthony would rather not face what’s going on right in front of him (series 10, episode 8).

Blue Peter Challenges — CBBC, 6:50pm

Blue Peter Challenges closes out the day’s schedule at 6:50pm.

Close — CBBC, 6:58pm

The channel closes down for the night straight after, with programmes resuming at 7am.

What kind of shows are on CBBC

Drama

The Next Step is the nearest thing CBBC has to a returning drama serial: a dance show now ten series deep, with an ensemble cast and storylines that carry from one episode into the next, which is more than most of the schedule attempts. It’s been part of the early-evening run for years rather than months. Crookhaven, the boarding school that trains pickpockets to use the skill for good, is the channel’s most ambitious recent commission and has a book range behind it; Jamie Johnson FC and Malory Towers do the same job for older viewers. None of those three is on today.

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 originals like Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese, Duck and Frog and Grizzy and the Lemmings 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

DIY Deadly with Steve Backshall and the quiz-format Mystery Lane are closer to a game show or an outdoor challenge than a documentary, which is fairly typical of how CBBC handles factual ground these days — almost nothing goes out as straight non-fiction any more.

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 The Next Step 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 3 September 2026 schedule runs its usual length, opening with Shaun the Sheep at 7am and running through a full day of animation including Total Dramarama, Andy and the Band and My Life: Top Dog at 2pm. The evening is a short one: Andy and the Band – Rock Star School at 5:45pm and Secret Life of Boys at 6:05pm lead into The Next Step at 6:25pm, before Blue Peter Challenges closes the day at 6:50pm and the channel goes off air 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