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

Published: 17 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 Friday 18 September 2026, running the same seven-hour day the channel keeps every day of the week.

CBBC Schedule: Friday 18 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete CBBC schedule for Friday 18 September 2026, on Freeview 201.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

What’s on CBBC today

CBBC keeps the same seven-hour shape it runs every day of the week. Shaun the Sheep and Danger Mouse open at 7am, Newsround has its usual 7:45am slot, and Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese, Grizzy and the Lemmings and SpongeBob SquarePants fill the rest of breakfast around a run of other short-form cartoons. Horrible Histories and Horrible Science lead into Operation Ouch! and Ricky Wilson’s Art Jam mid-morning, before the hour-long nature series Africa takes the 11am slot.

Lunchtime brings Game on Grandparents, Andy and the Band and Football Fantastics into Octonauts, then a stretch of short-form repeats — Duck and Frog, Piripenguins, Super Happy Magic Forest and Grizzy and the Lemmings: World Tour among them — carries through early afternoon. Winx Club – The Magic Is Back takes the 2pm slot, and a second run of Shaun the Sheep, Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed! and Danger Mouse opens mid-afternoon before Pablo: Next Level, Submarine Jim, Odd Squad and Teen Titans Go! lead into the evening line-up below.

CBBC tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the CBBC primetime line-up for tonight, Friday 18 September 2026.

Deadly 60 — CBBC, 6:10pm

Steve Backshall’s wildlife series closes out the afternoon proper, this outing the sixth episode of series seven, with the usual mix of close encounters with the world’s more dangerous animals.

Gladiators: Epic Pranks — CBBC, 6:40pm

The Gladiators spin-off takes the last slot before close, series two’s opener pairing the arena’s games with a run of prank segments — a lighter, shorter cut of the format built for this end-of-day slot.

Close — CBBC, 6:58pm

CBBC signs off for the night straight after, with a short card confirming programmes resume at 7am tomorrow.

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, though it isn’t part of today’s line-up. Malory Towers does a similar job for older viewers, though it isn’t part of today’s line-up either.

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 schedule today opens with Shaun the Sheep and Danger Mouse at 7am, with Newsround at its usual 7:45am slot ahead of Horrible Histories, Horrible Science and Operation Ouch! through the morning. The afternoon is mostly short-form repeats, and the early evening carries new episodes of Pablo: Next Level, Blue Peter: Strictly Come Dancing and Cheer Challenge Finale and Andy and the Band: Rock Star School, before Deadly 60 and Gladiators: Epic Pranks close the day 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