Sprout

On October 20, 2004, PBS announced that it had entered into a joint partnership with cable provider Comcast, and production companies HIT Entertainment and Sesame Workshop (formerly known as the Children's Television Workshop) to launch a then-unnamed subscription-based channel aimed at preschool children.[6]
On April 4, 2005, Comcast announced that the network would be known as Sprout, launching initially as a branded video on-demand (VOD) service before launching its linear pay-TV channel. The network would be advertising-supported, but ads would only air between programs in small quantities, and would be aimed towards parents and caregivers.[7]
The linear network officially launched on September 26, 2005, with a reach of around 16 million viewers across Comcast and Insight cable providers.[7] The multi-platform approach was designed to appeal to different viewing habits, with the linear channel focused on variety, and the on-demand services focused on instantaneous access to specific programs. The linear service was designed around dayparted programming blocks, featuring activities and other feature segments presented by on-air hosts. Some of these segments were designed to promote supplemental content (including activities and interactive features) on Sprout's website.[7]
Sprout chose to not follow the convention of bundling short-form series into half-hour episodes with interstitial segments for U.S. broadcast, electing to air such programs individually in their original format. Andrew Beecham, a former director of worldwide programming strategy for the Playhouse Disney brand, stated that with this practice, "you get to sample a huge variety of material. You'll get all these smaller shows that translate into something bigger." In September 2010, PBS Kids Sprout launched a high definition simulcast feed.[8]
Category:Channels for kids
Category:Programming Blocks
Category:Preschool shows