Pop was originally launched on 29 May 2003 by Chart Show Channels (CSC) Media Group as Toons&Tunes.[2] Toons&Tunes was then later rebranded as its current name, Pop (formerly stylized as pop and POP!) in the following month. In September 2003, a timeshift sister network - Pop Plus, was launched.[3] Originally, the network focused on music videos with animated programming also part of the schedule, but with the numerous music video network options on British television at the time, this focus was quickly abandoned in 2004, when the animated content became much more prominent. Music videos continued to be carried on and off until 2010, before eventually being abandoned entirely.[citation needed] Initially, the channel broadcast animated content sourced from Granada Media's programming library under a six-month non-exclusive deal, before transitioning to content sourced mainly from DIC Entertainment and Nelvana.

In the channel's early years, links were presented by Rorry, formerly known as Tricky, an animated lime green dragon who used to host a Saturday morning show in the autumn of 1997, but was repurposed for the Pop channel. Tricky spoke with a northern English dialect, while Rorry spoke in a different voice with a Scottish accent, both versions were animated live through computer cues. He was accompanied by Purrdy, a dragon/cat hybrid who also appeared in the original Tricky programme on ITV, it was sometimes followed by a programme known as "The Cheeky Monkey Show" which features the live links of the animated coloured monkeys known as "The Cheeky Monkeys".

In July 2004, Pop Plus was rebranded as Tiny Pop with the channel's pre-school shows being moved over, alongside the Cheeky Monkeys.

On 10 August 2007, a one-hour timeshift service - Pop +1 was launched on Sky, alongside Tiny Pop +1. On 11 October, the channel was launched on Virgin Media, alongside Tiny Pop.[4]

On 19 May 2008, Pop +1 ceased broadcast and was replaced with a new sister network - Kix!.

On 1 February 2011, Pop was removed from Virgin Media to make way for the cable launch of True Entertainment.[5]

On 20 March 2014, Pop was launched on Freeview.[6] Prior to April 2016, Pop was only available in areas where there is a local TV channel. On 14 July, Pop +1 was relaunched on Sky, replacing Kix +1.

On 1 April 2016, Pop moved to a wider coverage nationwide freeview mix, becoming available to over 90% of the country.[7] The capacity vacated by Pop on the local multiplex was used to transmit Kix from 7 April 2016. Pop +1 moved to LCN channel 128, to release 127 for use by Kix, but was otherwise unaffected, continuing to broadcast locally to Manchester only until its eventual withdrawal from Freeview.

On 1 September 2020, Pop rebranded its on-air identity, with the premiere of Bakugan: Armored Alliance.[8] And on the same day, starting with Pokémon Journeys: The Series, the network became the new British home of the Pokémon anime, moving from its previous broadcasters, ITV1 and CITV, of over 20 years.[9]

On 9 November 2022, Narrative Entertainment announced the launch of a new FAST channel, Pop Kids, to stream on Samsung TV Plus, the new FAST network airs shows from Pop and Tiny Pop.[10]

Sometime in 2022, Pop began to branch into original content for the first time, as they approached Joe Tasker for a new show called Swipe It! With Joe Tasker.

On 19 July 2023, Pop reverted to broadcasting on the local-TV multiplex, switching places with sibling film channel Great! Romance.[11] In September 2023, it was announced that Pop Kids would split into two FAST channels, with Tiny Pop getting its own channel, and with Pop replacing the current FAST channel.[12]

On 7 February 2024, Pop and other Narrative Entertainment channels were removed from Freesat to make way for the closure of the linear variant of Tiny Pop,[13] however it was relaunched in 21 August in the same year, but not on Freesat.

In December 2024, Pop's website was closed down and was redirected to the Pop Player website.

On 1 December 2024, Pop and Tiny Pop got turned into a hybrid streaming channel on Freeview but it continues to be a linear channel on Sky and Virgin Media. [14]


Current programming

Pop
The channel sources its programming from multiple production and distribution studios. Programming includes original shows such as Swipe It! With Joe Tasker, and acquired programming such as Alvinnn!!! and the Chipmunks, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir and Pokémon. The channel also includes movies and such as the Barbie television films, Pokémon and Monster High.[1]

Original programming
Swipe It! With Joe Tasker[2]
Acquired programming
44 Cats[3][4]
Annedroids[5]
Battle for Dream Island
Bakugan[3]
Bakugan: Geogan Rising[3]
Bakugan: Evolutions[3]
Bakugan: Legends[3]
Barbie: A Touch of Magic[3][6]
Barbie: It Takes Two[3][7]
Care Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot[3]
Droners[3][8]
Grizzy & the Lemmings (also on Boomerang, CBBC and BBC iPlayer)[3][9]
The InBESTigators[3][10]
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts[3][11]
Kung Fu Sock[3][12][13]
Lego City Adventures (also on Nickelodeon)[3][14]
Lego Dreamzzz: Trials of the Dream Chasers (also on ITVX)[3][15]
Lego Friends: Girls on a Mission[3][16]
Lego Friends: The Next Chapter[3][17]
L.O.L. Surprise! House of Surprises![3][18]
Mermicorno: Starfall[19]
Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir (also on Disney+)[3][20]
Moley[3]
Monster High (also on Nickelodeon)[3][21][22]
Polly Pocket[3][23]
Pokémon[3][24]
Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series[3][25]
Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series[3]
Power Players[25]
Power Rangers
Power Rangers Dino Fury[3][26]
Rainbow Butterfly Unicorn Kitty[3][27]
Sadie Sparks[3][28]
Shasha & Milo[3]
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power[3][29]
Skylanders Academy[3][30]
Squish[3][31]
Team Jay[32]
Total DramaRama[3][33] (also on CBBC and BBC iPlayer)
Unicorn Academy
Films and specials
Barbie: Princess Adventure
Barbie & Chelsea: The Lost Birthday
Barbie: Big City, Big Dreams
Barbie: Mermaid Power
Master Moley By Royal Invitation
Miraculous World: New York, United Heroez
Miraculous World: Shanghai, The Legend of Ladydragon
Monster High: The Movie
Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew
Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea
Pokémon the Movie: Kyurem vs. the Sword of Justice (also on CBBC and BBC iPlayer)
Pokémon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction (also on CBBC and BBC iPlayer)
Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages (also on CBBC and BBC iPlayer)
Pokémon the Movie: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel (also on CBBC and BBC iPlayer)
Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You![a] (also on CBBC and BBC iPlayer)
Pokémon the Movie: The Power of Us[a] (also on CBBC and BBC iPlayer)
Tiny Pop
Tiny Pop airs preschool programs such as Gabby's Dollhouse, Super Wings and PJ Masks.[34]

Original programming
DinoCity
Acquired programming
Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe[35]
Apollo's Tall Tales[36]
Baby Born
Barbie: A Touch of Magic[37]
Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures[38]
Billy the Cowboy Hamster[39]
Bubble's Hotel[40]
Care Bears: Unlock the Magic[36][41] (2019–present)
Caring For Each Other
Cookie Monster's Foodie Truck[36]
Cookie's Crumby Pictures
Dino Ranch
Ella, Oscar & Hoo[36]
Elmo and Tango's Mysterious Mysteries
Elmo's World[36]
Esme & Roy[36]
Gabby's Dollhouse[42]
Gigantosaurus[36][43] (2020–present)
Go! Go! Cory Carson[44]
Grizzy & the Lemmings (also on Boomerang, CBBC and BBC iPlayer)[45]
Gus – The Itsy Bitsy Knight
Hello Kitty: Super Style![46]
Jeremy & Jazzy
Little Bear (English dub of Pompon Ours)[47][48]
Masha and the Bear (also on Cartoonito)[36][49]
Mighty Express (2022–present[50])[51][52]
Molang[36][53] (2018–present)
Monchhichi[36]
Mush-Mush and the Mushables
My Little Pony: Pony Life[36] (2020–present)
Petronix Defenders (2022–present[50])[54]
Pikwik Pack
PJ Masks[36][55] (2017–present)
Remy & Boo[36]
Simon[36]
Smart Cookies[36]
Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City (2022–present)[56]
Super Grover 2.0
Super Wings[36][57] (2017–Present)
Trotties[58]
Yeti Tales[36]
Pop Max
Pop Max mainly airs TV shows from sister channel Pop, such as Pokémon, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir and Grizzy & the Lemmings. Pop Max airs movies and specials similar to Pop, but it is mostly limited to Pokémon movies.[59]

Annedroids
Artzooka!
Battle for Dream Island
Bakugan[60]
Bakugan: Evolutions
Da Boom Crew
Dragon Ball Super
Droners[3][61]
Ethan Gamer Plays Roblox
Grizzy & the Lemmings
The InBESTigators[3][62]
Kipo and The Age of Wonderbeasts
Kung Fu Sock
Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir
Monster High (also on Nickelodeon)[3][63][64]
Nate Is Late[65]
Pokémon Journeys: The Series
Pokémon Journeys: The Series[66]
Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series[25]
Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series
Power Players[25]
Power Rangers Dino Fury
PocketWatch Ultimate MishMash
Art For Kids Hub[67]
Denis[68]
LankyBox[68]
Skylanders Academy[69]
Shasha & Milo[3]
Shasha & Milo: Shorts
She-Ra: Princess of Power
SheZow
Space Chickens in Space[70]
Squish[71]
Swipe It! With Joe Tasker[72]
Talking Tom & Friends[73]
The Strange Chores[74]
Total DramaRama
Films and specials
Monster High: Electrified
Pokémon the Movie: Black—Victini and Reshiram and White—Victini and Zekrom (also on CBBC and BBC iPlayer)
Pokémon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened (also on BBC iPlayer)

About some shows as they are obscure

Da Boom Crew: Four foster kids create a video game about heroes going up against space alien terrorists. Then a portal appears and pulls them into a dimension which is just like the world in their game. They embark on a quest to find their missing video game cartridges and stop the sadistic extraterrestrial emperor Zorch from taking control of this intergalactic dimension.[2]

Characters
Justin – The leader and general of the crew who wears shoulder pads, and elbow pads. His weapons are two laser pistols and an arm slingshot.
Nate – The gang's ship pilot, Justin's younger brother, and his right hand man. The shortest and youngest in the group, he has short brown hair and wears a light blue top and blue jeans. He refers to himself as 'big daddy Nate' and has a fear of heights. His arsenal is a laser sword given to him as a reward by the yo-diggians for helping save commander Blurp.
Jubei – A hoverboard rider. He's Justin's friend who wears a visor cap armed with a laser shotgun, and is an accurate sharp shooter. However, when he misses a shot, he calls it the "kiki popo". He is apparently of Japanese descent.
Ricki – A whiz kid gadget creator, making her the gang's genius. She is a ginger-haired girl who wears a red track jacket with matching jogging pants, grey hiking boots, a blue wristband on her left wrist, and has ginger hair up positioned in two pigtails. She is an expert with anything mechanical, uses a vast scientific knowledge when describing things, attacks using a metal staff, has a fear of water, and even romantic feelings for her superior Justin.
Dent – A sentient robot which has been given to Ricki as a gift after she helped save commander Blurp. He resembles a flat screen computer with a hollow, metal, cylindrical body, has two robotic arms and moves around on a small set of wheels. He does not talk, but shows above-average human intelligence and uses a series of beeps to communicate. A digital face portraying his mood is shown on the screen.
"Great Commander" Blurp – Former War Commander of Planet Yodiggity in the war against Zorch. He says he is a brave commander, but his actions say otherwise.
Zorch – He wishes to conquer the galaxy by gathering the Boom Cards.
Headlock – Cohort of Zorch. He wears a dome on his head because it is abnormally small. His assistant's name is Gerone. This character was voiced by Morris Day
Hetra – Headlock's evil older sister. She and Commander Blurp were trained by the same mentor.

Kung Fu Sock: Eight-year-old Tee Zeng finds an unusual sock that is actually a Kung Fu master named Kung Fu Wa from another world. Wearing the sock transforms Tee Zeng into super heroine Kung Fu Girl. She and Kung Fu Wa must complete missions and protect their home, Starry Island.[2][3]

Characters
Tee Zeng (alternatively named Tea Zen or TZ (English dub) and Tee Yang (Spanish dub); voiced by Zhou Zhou (Chinese), Sofia Gomez (English) and Belén Marín (Spanish)) – an 8-year-old girl who lives above her family's laundrette, who turns into Kung Fu Girl through the aid of Master Kicko
Master Kicko (alternatively named Kung Fu Wa (English dub); voiced by Fu Bowen (Chinese), Alex Teixeira (English) and Juan Pablo Muñoz (Spanish)) – a Kung Fu master who was transformed into a sock
Hiro Hao/Sword Master (voiced by Jiasi Li (Chinese), Alex Machado (English) and Óscar Olivares (Spanish)) – Tee Zeng's friend from school
Manipulens (also known as Evil Star Lord; voiced by Zhankun Zhang (Chinese), Travis Roig (English) and Cristóbal Areite (Spanish)) – Kicko's rival who was transformed into a pair of glasses
Min (voiced by Mu Qiu (Chinese), Dariana Fustes (English) and Niksi Marín (Spanish)) – Tee Zeng's introverted, but adventurous best friend
Tee Zeng's mom (voiced by Chenjie Xiong (Chinese), Ghia Burns (English) and Betsabé Gutiérrez (Spanish)) – the owner of a local laundromat in Starry Island

Squish: The series follows the adventures of Squish, a 12-year-old amoeba in the town of Small Pond (a town inhabited entirely by unicellular organisms) along with his friends, Pod and Peggy, as they try to navigate school and their everyday lives while learning more about unicellular organisms.

Cast
Squish - Benjamin Bollen (French); Cory Doran (English). Squish is a 12-year-old comic book reading, Twinkie eating amoeba who also likes rap music. He is also obsessed with popularity and his image among his peers.
Pod - Simon Koukissa (French); Brandon McGibbon (English). An amoeba and Squish's best friend. He is very rational and intelligent and is fond of making gadgets and solving equations and formulas.
Peggy - Marie Nonnenmacher (French); Krystal Meadows (English). A paramecium and Squish's other best friend and enjoys spreading positivity, joy, and happiness around and making people smile. She is very optimistic and oftentimes hysterical. Since she's always so excited, she yells almost everything she says. She likes unicorns and has a pet named Fluffy.
Squish's Dad - Xavier Fagnon (French); Cory Doran (English). He is Squish's father and he tends to be immature sometimes. However, he is a good role model and father figure despite being unemployed.
Principal Planaria - Boris Relhinger (French); Robert Tinkler (English). A planarian and the principal of Squish's school. He tends to punish the students and send them to detention for every little offense. However, he shows love and compassion for the students from time to time.
Mr. Rotifer - Xavier Fagnon (French); John Stocker (English). A rotifer and Squish's teacher who tends to be very boring and dull, causing his students to fall asleep as he teaches. It is revealed that he is a good dancer and lyricist.
Vinny - Simon Koukissa (French); Robert Tinkler (English). A virus that tried to take over Squish's body. He has the unique ability to multiply himself and he can take the form of anybody he wants.
Lynwood - Xavier Fagnon (French); Cory Doran (English). He is the school bully and he has a high interest in drama and acting and once even taught Squish how to become a great actor.
Helen - Leopoldine Serre (French); Diane Salema(English). She is a student and is into Fashion and Cosmetics. She has two friends, Heather & Holly, who attend to her every need, and she has a romantic attraction to Gusfun.
Shirley - Emmylou Homs (French); Krystal Meadows (English). She is Squish's classmate and can be intimidating at times, and is also into rock music. Since she is a micro shrimp, she is very short compared to her peers. Despite this, she has ways of adapting to live like a normal organism.
Gusfun - Xavier Fagnon (French); Brandon McGibbon (English). A fungus in Squish's school who has a crush on Helen.
Franny - Diane Salema (English). She is Pod's academic rival and tends to best him at every single intellectual field they compete. She goes to school in an "Intellectual Academy" for smart organisms. In the episode "A Bellyful Of Friendship", she develops a crush on Pod (although not knowing it is him because he hid Squish in his body, wore a fake mustache, had a fake voice, and called himself "Tod")
Holly - Emmylou Homs (French); Bailey Stocker (English). She is one of Helen's friends who constantly caters to her every need.

Former programming
Pop
3 Amigonauts
The Adventures of Chuck and Friends[75]
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3[76]
Alan the Last Dinosaur[77]
Alvinnn!!! and the Chipmunks (also on Nickelodeon)[3][78]
The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers[79] (now on S4C)
Animal Exploration with Jarod Miller[80]
The Animal Shelf[81]
Archie's Weird Mysteries[76]
Artzooka![75]
The Babaloos[76]
Babar[76]
Backyard Science[82]
Bakugan: Battle Planet
Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures[3][83]
Battle B-Daman
The Berenstain Bears[76]
Big Top Academy: School's Out Edition[3]
Bimble's Bucket[84]
Bindi the Jungle Girl[85]
Blazing Dragons[76]
Bump in the Night[76]
Buzz Bumble[86]
Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs[87]
The Care Bears Family[88]
Clang Invasion[89]
Clay Kids
Clifford the Big Red Dog[90]
Corduroy[88]
Cosmic Quantum Ray[91]
Cubix[91]
Cyberchase[76]
Dennis the Menace[76]
Digimon Data Squad[92]
Dinotrux[93]
Dr. Dimensionpants[94]
Dragon Ball Super[b][95]
Ella the Elephant[96]
Eliot Kid[96]
Elliot Moose[76]
Erky Perky[85]
Fairy Tale Police Department[91]
Fantomcat[97]
Finding Stuff Out[82]
Flatmania
Funnymals
Freaktown[94]
Gasp![77]
Gawayn[77]
The Gees[89]
George and Martha[76]
Girlstuff/Boystuff
Grojband[96]
Grossology[92]
H2O: Just Add Water[98]
Hanazuki: Full of Treasures[99]
Hareport[89]
Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs[100]
I.N.K. Invisible Network of Kids[80]
Iggy Arbuckle[80]
Insectibles
Inspector Gadget (now on FilmRise)
Jamie's Got Tentacles[101]
Kaleido Star
Kampung Boy[76]
Kid Detectives[80]
KikoRiki/GoGoRiki[89]
Kirby: Right Back at Ya!
King
King Arthur's Disasters[89]
The Legend of White Fang[76]
Larva
The Legend of Calamity Jane[102]
LEGO Nexo Knights
Little Wizard Tao[89]
Littlest Pet Shop[98] (now on Sky Kids)
Littlest Pet Shop: A World of Our Own (now on Sky Kids)
Loggerheads
Lola & Virginia[103]
Madeline[88]
Magi-Nation[104]
The Magic School Bus[76]
Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse[76]
Milly, Molly[75]
Mischief City[91]
The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show[93]
Mona the Vampire[86]
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic[98]
Write a forum conversation saying Pop Max seems to have a Summer event starting July 3