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Universal Kids (formerly Sprout and PBS Kids Sprout) was a cable channel owned by NBC Universal (since 2013) and formerly by PBS and HiT Entertainment between 2005 to 2013. This channel has broadcasted the Original Series, Project: Build It and Ready, Steady, Build! under its former name Sprout. In 2005, it was originally formed by Comcast in conjunction with Sesame Workshop, PBS and HIT Entertainment. Sprout is available on many major cable networks, as well as DirectTV. It replaced the PBS Kids Channel that originally was available prior to Sprout's debut. They were considerable as the US version of CBeebies.
Apax Partners, the former owners of HIT Entertainment, sold their share of the network in 2013. Mattel did not take said share when it bought the company a year earlier. Sesame Workshop and PBS followed suit, giving NBC Universal full control of the network. The channel was re-branded to Universal Kids on September 9, 2017.
They continue to broadcast preschool-oriented programming under the "Universal Kids Preschool" branding during daytime hours.
Reruns of Ready, Steady, Build! and later Project: Build It returned to the channel from April 22 to July 8, 2019.
On the Universal Kids Shows page in 2020, the Bob the Builder poster was replaced by The Big Fun Crafty Show poster. It shows that Bob the Builder is no longer on Universal Kids due to Mattel terminating their contract with Universal and the US dub of Bob the Builder was put on hiatus in North America after the 2nd season of the 2015 series of Bob the Builder.
The channel was shut down on 6 March 2025.
Timeline of Bob the Builder
On Sprout
- September 26, 2005 - January 16, 2015: The Original Series aired on the channel.
- February 19, 2007 - January 16, 2015: Project: Build It aired on the channel.
- May 19, 2013 - September 26, 2015: Ready, Steady, Build! aired on the channel.
On Universal Kids
- April 22 - July 8, 2019: Reruns of Project: Build It and Ready, Steady, Build! returned to the channel.