ITV shuts down beloved channel TODAY after 17 years on screens – leaving fans devastated

AFTER 17 years broadcasting to living rooms up and down the country, viewers are about to say goodbye to CITV.

The iconic children’s channel will shut down later today to make way for ITV‘s new kids streaming service ITVX Kids.

According to , CITV  will shut down tonight at 9pm, following their last day of broadcasting.

ITV said in a statement, , that the decision to close down the channel comes as a result of falling viewership.

Fans have been left devastated as a result of the move by the commercial network and they took to social media in droves to pay tribute.

One fan said: “It’s a shame CITV is closing down at 9pm tonight for the last time.”

A second noted: “Today is a sad day for us nostalgic fans.”

“I was a CITV kid, and proud of it. What a shame,” noted a third.

As a fourth user gushed: “I’m very sad. Today we say goodbye to CITV.”

Meanwhile, a fifth wrote: “The last day of #CITV End of an era [broken hearts and crying emojis].”

And a sixth added: “I’m still not ready to say goodbye to CiTV after 40 years today.”

The statement said: “As a consequence of this new streaming approach and responding to the changing ways children and their parents are increasingly accessing content, the CITV broadcast channel will close after the summer holidays on 1st September.”

Craig Morris, who is the Managing Editor of ITVX also released a statement regarding the closing decision.

He said: “We’re really excited to launch this dedicated destination for kids on ITVX, which will be home to a wealth of content including new series, recognisable brands and existing favourites for a range of ages, all in one child-safe area, with editorial curation to guide viewing.”

The idea of CITV was initially launched in 1983, as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network aimed at children aged between five and 13-years-old.

However, the channel first came on air in 2006 with the programme Saturday Showdown.

Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern were the first presenters to appear on the iconic channel as they hosted the magazine show.

Other classic titles included Fun House, Knightmare, Children’s Ward, Raggy Dolls, Woof, and Art Attack.

Whilst programmes such as Ghost Train, Press Gang, Danger Mouse, Trap Door and Count Duckula also called CITV their home.

Its not all bad news though, as the network’s new destination for kids TV will be called ITVX Kids and will be available on their streaming platform.

Content from the CITV channel has been moved over to the service ahead of the channel’s closure after ITVX Kids was first launched in July.