TV channel packed with nostalgic shows to vanish from Freeview TODAY

A TV channel packed with nostalgic shows is set to vanish from Freeview today.

The move comes as a sting to fans of childhood Saturday mornings and after-school cartoons.

The long-running free-to-air kids’ channels POP and Tiny POP are being pulled from Freeview and other platforms today.

The closure ends more than two decades of linear broadcasting.

Launched in 2003 by CSC Media Group, POP and Tiny POP became staples of British children’s television, filling screens on Freeview, Sky and Virgin with Saturday morning favourites, animated classics, and cartoon hits.

From today, they’ll exist only as streaming-only services.

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Two Sky and Freeview channels are being replaced TODAY

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Freeview is shutting down two popular channels on millions of TVs before Xmas

The linear channel versions are gone for good and the companion streaming app, POP Player, is shutting down completely.

It’s a grim new era for free-to-air kids’ telly. With POP and Tiny POP gone, that leaves only CBBC and CBeebies and the preschool block Milkshake! on Channel 5, as the main traditional, no-cost channels for children in the UK.

Owners Narrative Entertainment say the move is forced by the stark collapse in commercial viability: the UK kids’ TV market is now worth only “4% of what it was 10 years ago”.

Narrative MD Paul Dunthorne said: “We’ve taken the decision to close our linear POP channels at the end of the year.

“We understand the importance of offering high-quality kids’ TV, and we’ve done everything that we can to maintain POP.

“But free-to-air channels for this audience are simply not commercially viable without public service broadcaster-style funding.”

But not all channels are gone; the company says its FAST services will continue.

The streaming versions of POP, Tiny POP (and sister FAST channel Pop Up) will remain available on internet-connected Freeview devices, Samsung and LG smart TVs, and other supported platforms.

The director in charge of the Pop channels, Francesca Newington, will stay on to oversee the FAST-channel portfolio.

It comes at a time when children are quickly switching from traditional linear viewing to streaming platforms and social media.

So, after decades of broadcasting everything from cartoons to family-favourites, POP and Tiny POP’s time on the regular telly grid has finally come to an end, leaving nostalgia behind as the channels disappear for good.

It comes after it was announced that MTV will close all of its music channels around the world — except in the US — as part of massive cuts after a company merger.