Universal Kids

Universal Kids

Logo used since 2019
Country	United States
Broadcast area	Nationwide
Headquarters	30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, New York, U.S.
Programming
Language(s)	English Spanish (via SAP audio track)
Picture format	1080i HDTV (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed)
Ownership
Owner	PBS (2005–2013) Sesame Workshop (2005–2013) HIT Entertainment (2005–2013) Apax Partners (2005–2012) NBCUniversal (Comcast)
Parent	NBCUniversal Media Group
Sister channels	List CNBC E! MSNBC NBC Bravo Oxygen USA Network Syfy Telemundo
History
Launched	September 26, 2005; 19 years ago (2005-09-26)
Replaced	PBS Kids Channel (original incarnation from 1999–2005)
Closed	March 6, 2025; 38 days' time (2025-03-06)[1]
Former names	PBS Kids Sprout (2005–2013) Sprout (2009–2017)
Links
Website	www.universalkids.com
Availability
Streaming media
Streaming Services	FuboTV, YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, DirecTV Stream
ClaroTV+	(requires subscription to access content)

Universal Kids is a soon to be defunct American children's television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast.

The channel launched on September 26, 2005, as PBS Kids Sprout, a preschool-oriented channel established as a joint venture between PBS, Comcast, Sesame Workshop, and HIT Entertainment, as an offshoot of the PBS Kids brand. It replaced PBS's original 24-hour PBS Kids Channel, which originally operated between 1999 and 2005 before being revived in 2017.

After the acquisition of NBCUniversal by Comcast in 2011, the company began to buy out the remaining owners' shares in the network. NBCUniversal became the sole owner of the network in 2013, after which it was renamed Sprout. Under NBCUniversal ownership, the channel increased its investments into original programming.

In 2017, the network relaunched as Universal Kids, adding an evening and prime time lineup targeting a wider youth audience—including DreamWorks Animation content, non-scripted programming (including game shows, and youth spin-offs of reality series from its NBCUniversal sister networks, such as American Ninja Warrior and Top Chef), and acquired teen dramas. The channel continues to devote its daytime lineup to preschool programming.

Amid industry-wide declines in the viewership of cable networks targeting children, Universal Kids stopped developing new original programming in 2019, with the channel now relying primarily on acquisitions and DreamWorks Animation content (drawn primarily from series originally commissioned for Netflix). Its remaining first-run programming moved to NBCUniversal's streaming service, Peacock. Eventually in January 2025, NBCUniversal announced that the channel would close on March 6, 2025.