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

Published: 11 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 Saturday 12 September 2026, running the same seven-hour day the channel keeps every day of the week.

CBBC Schedule: Saturday 12 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete CBBC schedule for Saturday 12 September 2026, on Freeview 201.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

What’s on CBBC today

Saturday keeps the same seven-hour shape CBBC runs every day of the week, but the morning is bigger than usual. Shaun the Sheep and Danger Mouse open at 7am, Newsround has its usual 7:45am slot, and SpongeBob SquarePants, a Grizzy and the Lemmings short and two Duck and Frog episodes split the rest of breakfast. The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe gets a new episode at 8:45am, then Saturday Mash-Up! Live holds the late morning from 9am right through to 11:30am.

Blue Peter: High School Musical and Shini’s Cheerleading Challenge follows straight after at 11:30am, then Horrible Science: Big Bang Prom! opens the afternoon at midday. From 1pm it’s mostly short-form repeats — Odd Squad, The Next Step and Malory Towers first, then three runs apiece of Danger Mouse, Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese, Duck and Frog and Super Happy Magic Forest carrying the schedule to 4pm. Horrible Histories and Horrible Science close out the afternoon ahead of the evening line-up below.

CBBC tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the CBBC primetime line-up for tonight, Saturday 12 September 2026.

Crookhaven — CBBC, 6:10pm

Series one’s third episode of the boarding-school drama Crookhaven runs at 6:10pm, straight after A Kind of Spark.

Dexter Procter: The 10-Year-Old Doctor — CBBC, 6:55pm

The channel’s last programme of the day is a short one, catching up with the young medic before CBBC signs off for the night.

Close — CBBC, 6:58pm

CBBC signs off at 6:58pm, with a card confirming programmes resume 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 daytime 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; today’s episode airs early evening at 6:10pm rather than in a longer block. Malory Towers does a similar job for older viewers, getting a daytime slot today rather than an evening one.

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 Saturday 12 September 2026 schedule opens with Shaun the Sheep and Danger Mouse at 7am, then Saturday Mash-Up! Live runs from 9am to 11:30am ahead of Blue Peter: High School Musical and Shini’s Cheerleading Challenge. The afternoon is mostly short-form repeats, and the evening is short: Crookhaven airs at 6:10pm, Dexter Procter: The 10-Year-Old Doctor follows at 6:55pm, 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