ITV to launch own kids channel in Autumn

ITV is planning to launch its own kids station this Autumn after talks over a joint venture with Nickelodeon fell through.

Earlier this year the broadcasters confirmed that the project - which had the working title 'INK' (ITV Nickelodeon Kids) - was in development but that "detailed legal negotations" were slowing things down.

"We just got to the point of thinking that it was more sustainable for us to do it ourselves," a 'senior' ITV source told Broadcast this week. "The deal fizzled out over a period of time. We tried to make [the deal] work and it wasn't for the want of trying - but it was a difficult one."

The ITV kids channel will launch towards the end of the year, broadcasting during the daytime hours of new male-skewed station ITV4.