Universal Kids Goes Dark in March

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Universal Kids Goes Dark in March, Making It the Latest Cable Network To Be Shut Down By NBCU.

Universal Kids, the youth-oriented network that began life as the preschool-centric PBS Kids Sprout (and later, Sprout) before being rebranded as a destination for a wider age range in 2017, is shutting down, Variety has confirmed. The network is expected to go dark on March 6, with an on-screen slate after that directing audiences to other platforms.

The news means Universal Kids won’t be part of the stable of cablers that transition to the new SpinCo entity set to be run by Mark Lazarus and include MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Oxygen, E!, Syfy and Golf Channel.

https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/universal-kids-shut-down-march-cable-network-nbcu-1236273553/

Andyross

And even worse, if you have DVR recordings on YouTube TV, they will be removed.

YouTube TV today warned customers that Universal Kids channel will be shutting down and removed from the platform, and any DVR recordings of its programs will be deleted next week. The channel, which features a mix of children’s programming, including cartoons, animated series, and live-action shows, is ceasing operations entirely, meaning it will no longer be available on any platform.

https://cordcuttersnews.com/youtube-tv-warns-customers-it-will-be-deleting-universal-kids-recordings-from-its-dvr-next-week/

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Andyross

Yes because with this type of "recording" it was never stored on your own hardware, but rather om THEIR hardware.

It was (in essence) an access link.

Likewise in the recent dispute between YouTubeTV and Paramount/CBS, it had been announced that if Paramount/CBS was dropped, all "recordings" would be removed.

For this purpose, these purported recordings are pretty ephemeral, like kissing a hologram insted of kissing a real person.

Andyross

I remember on my first cable DVR box (Motorola DCT-6412), I had a recording from INHD with video and audio test patterns. Even long after the channel shut down, I had that until I was forced to change the box due to the MPEG4 changeover.