Universal Kids Goes Dark in March, Making It the Latest Cable Network To Be Shut Down By NBCU

variety.com:

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Universal Kids, the youth-oriented network that began life as the preschool-centric PBS Kids Sprout (and later, Sprout) before being rebranded as a destination for a wider age range in 2017, is shutting down, Variety has confirmed.

The network is expected to go dark on March 6, with an on-screen slate after that directing audiences to other platforms. The news means Universal Kids won’t be part of the stable of cablers that transition to the new SpinCo entity set to be run by Mark Lazarus and include MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Oxygen, E!, Syfy and Golf Channel. “NBCUniversal remains committed to family entertainment, including award-winning brands Illumination and Dreamworks Animation, as well as kids-focused programming on Peacock,” the company said in a statement.

The fate of Universal Kids had been unclear since NBCU announced the decision to spin off most of its cable networks (with the exception of Bravo) into the new entity, as its press release failed to include it among the list of channels that will populate the new company (presently being referred to as “SpinCo”).

In a final effort to grow Universal Kids, NBCU attempted to tie the network closer to DreamWorks Animation, which the conglom bought in August 2016 for approximately $3.8 billion.