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Children's Avast Television (also known as Kids's Avast TV and originally named as Kids's Avast Television) is a children's programming network and a brand of Avast Television. The network launched on September 21, 1968 as a programming block as part of a significant agreement to start showing and making children's television shows with the Bloxorado Broadcasting System and Avast Television. Children's Avast Television debuted a website for their internet network in November 2008.
When it first debuted, the Kids' Avast Television block—then known as "The Saturday Cartoons"—started airing on a late Friday afternoon. From there, the block went on to air ten to fourteen new children's television programs, originally aimed at children between the ages of 3 and 11 years old. Early in the 1970s, the network gained a lot of popularity. However, when new channels were formed and gained some recognition, there was a decline in children's watching. The programming block was then renamed Kids' Avast TV and moved to 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. with the introduction of a new block called "Teenager Cartoons." Following that, the network had a significant decline in audience for a second time in the 1990s. Beginning in 2000, the network saw an increase in popularity thanks to a number of new television shows, some of which quickly became the most watched shows on the channel, including Princess Tales, Beautiful Drama, and particularly Robloxians and The Hero, But Zero.
History
1967: Origins
On July 8, 1967, Avast Television was formally launched, with the "Avast News" segment marking the start of the new channel. Even though part of the news was still in black and white at the time, the network was the first channel in the United States to start in color and was among the earliest to do so. Nevertheless, throughout the span of the first four months, the network noticed an increase in the number of kids watching news programs additionally, mostly with their parents around. This was partially because of a segment called "Blast Outside To Fun" that was included on the network and focused on teaching important life lessons to youngsters through songs and videos that ranged in length from two to five minutes, depending on the subjects being discussed. Following this, the network's then-founder Donald Avast started making preparations to introduce a children's programming block with about 10 television programs that would be geared toward youngsters.
The suggestion of airing brief motion pictures before to television series was one of the recommendations for developing children's programming. There weren't many popular children's programs at that time; The King distinguishes out among them as it was the most-popular series. Donald reached the decision to focus on screening live-action films first, before broadcasting the short film, as a result. The concept for the program was first unveiled in January 1968, and it had been expected that the children's programming would go broadcast soon or later during the year. Donald made the executive choice when he initially began organizing for the network to not show short films but instead to start the television program first; if an episode was lengthy or at least forty-five minutes in length, then a short film would be replaced next. While it was still in production, the network announced that the children's programming was now called "Kids's Avast Television" as a result of the company changing its name after less than a year. By the following couple of months, the network was being advertised by the news channel at some point during the afternoon. Donald struck an agreement with Bloxorado Broadcasting System and Avast Television in July of that year to start showing children's television programs.
1968-1977: Beginnings
On September 21, 1968, Kids' Avast Television had its formal debut. The King's first episode debuted on television at the time of its transmission, just as the cartoon program's second season was coming to a close. Following that, the network enjoyed success in its first month of broadcasting thanks to an increase in the number of kids between the ages of 3 and 11 who watched, with the majority of them doing so during prime time. Since the network was a programming block in its early stages and had been broadcasting for a period of over a year, it had originally been scheduled for the new channel to run from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., while the rest of the programming, "The Saturday Cartoons," began at around 6:30 a.m. and concluded at around 12:00 p.m. to represent the second half of the news portion of the program. The new channel would subsequently return to the block at 6:30 p.m. A combined number of ten to a minimum of fourteen new, different television programs, the most of them successful, were produced by the network during the first four months of its launch. However, the scheduling of the children's television block was criticized. Avast Television responded by ordering that the news channel be moved to a different time slot in favor of the block.
The new channel was successfully converted to a separate network after the shift, and as a result, Kids' Avast Television ended up being a 24-hour block rather than a 7-hour block. The King's first season ended later in January 1969, and its second season premiered the next morning on the network that regularly aired the series. At that point, the show had reached its 100th episode. The first significant success for the network's children's programming block, however, came on March 2, 1969, when Bedtime Adventures, one of its newest shows, debuted. When an episode of the program would run during prime time from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., the majority of the target audience would be up, proving the series to be a huge success. At the time, only a few regions of the United States received Kids' Avast Television broadcasts. In order to move their headquarters there, Donald Avast struck an agreement with the New Blockers City corporation. As a result, the Kids' Avast Television started airing in 20 different states across the United States.
Despite having the name "The Saturday Cartoons" in its title, Kids' Avast Television's block aired only on Saturdays, never on Sundays, and only during the weekdays between Monday and Friday. It was the first time they and (in following years, would continue the custom of announcing their lineup) that the block made a television series lineup announcement, which took place on April 26, 1970. Sesame Street was one among them; at the time, it was also very well-liked by teens and small children alike. Following that, the block saw the debut of Sesame Street on May 4, which led to a significant increase in popularity. Unlike other networks, Kids' Avast Television was the second in the country (after Robloxian Group Network) to offer a time ad indicating which series will air next. The concept was first presented to the network on May 18. Donald came up with the concept as a method to remedy the issue that was occurring in most of the channels while also increasing the popularity of the kids' block. However, viewers would simply need to know when a TV show will broadcast next, either soon or later.
The block's popularity with youngsters started decreasing in the early 1970s, commencing in 1974; some of this decline was due to various children's networks that were starting to gain popularity at the same time as the network was being established. Donald additionally had plans at that time for establishing an additional program for the network that would target more mature viewers, particularly teenagers, who had recently begun watching the network. On November 11, 1975, Donald made an official announcement to the public announcing a new block for teens named "Teenager Cartoons" in response to the high ratings the children's programs was generating. The network started collaborating on and producing programs, the most of those being live-action with a handful of them being animated, before introducing the block for the first time. On December 21 of the same year, the block was subsequently launched as a component of the Kids' Avast Television group. Nevertheless, the block was successful during its first month of broadcasting before seeing an immediate decrease in viewership.
Donald and the Avast Television company began putting together arrangements to rebrand the Kids' Avast Television network after and following the block's earliest debut, with suggestions for an alternative moniker for the network. On January 1, 1975, the block was officially designated as Kids' Avast TV. As the consequence of this change, the beginning of the day slot was moved from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. Kids' Avast TV made an official announcement in the spring of 1976 that they expected to show the block both on Saturdays for 24 hours and on Sundays for 7 hours, just like it had previously shown on Saturdays. In the fall of that year, Kids' Avast TV announced an upcoming slate of television shows as part of the 1977–1978 American network television schedule; one of them was Anonymous Doodles, which was scheduled for a broadcast in the year of 1977 and was created by the company. The Kids's Avast TV EPIC Award Show!, which was presented by Donald Avast, debuted on January 25, 1977, as the network's inaugural program for children. The kid's awards presentation was a huge hit and became Kids' Avast TV's highest-rated program.
1978-1991: Donald Avast's resign, introduction of live-action films and rise of animated television series
The first transmission of Anonymous Doodles was broadcast on March 2, 1978, more than a year after its creation. Following The King, which had concluded production months before, it immediately rose to the top viewed television program on Kids' Avast TV. Nevertheless, for the network, the show had been scheduled to wrap up for its tenth season with its concluding episode. Donald started implementing fresh modifications to the business and to the network itself at this time. One of Donald's first actions was to produce more animated television programs than common compared to previous years, but the company still desired to develop live-action features-films that would premiere as television specials. The "Teenager Cartoons" block, which had been broadcasting for more than three years at this point, was one of their other targets, and it had been swiftly discontinued because of low viewership and the realization that adolescents preferred animated television shows to live-action programs. To allow for the development of new live-action television programs, Donald instead recommended that the "Teenager Cartoons" remain on television for "more than a year" longer.
The company initially expressed worries about changing from animated to live-action television series, but after understanding that some of them had the potential to have an excellent likelihood of growing into very popular, they determined to give permission to all of the shows at once and choose to keep the block running for a while before terminating it. After this, Kids' Avast TV started advertising the block for a full year, keeping up with the times of the newest transmissions while still encouraging viewers to keep watching the network. Up until 1980, no new live-action series had been revealed, but officially, as part of the business's subsequent round of significant reforms, the first five live-action television series were officially announced with intentions to air the shows later that year or the year following. The corporation gave one of the proposed television programs, which was later given the appellation "Lifeless Chronicles," an enormous amount of attention. The lineup of animated television shows that had been promised and distributed for the 1980–1981 American network television schedule was then put into action by Donald Avast and delivered throughout the next month. Kids' Avast TV updated their block schedule on March 1, 1980, relocating it from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. The suggestion to adjust the time spot came from the company considerably later in the day than originally planned.
The expression "Saturday" was also dropped from the name of the "The Saturday Cartoons" block, which was then renamed "The Kids's Monday to Sunday Cartoons!" in the same month. Avast Television's brand wasn't being represented by the title, thus the firm requested a renaming of the product. After the company's debut under the new name, it later thought that the name wasn't working properly, therefore in 1981 it reverted back to "The Saturday Cartoons" name. Donald Avast had made preparations to depart from the network and the business by year's end. Donald had previously started to experience tremendous fatigue and the feeling that he had "worked for too long." After learning of his resignation, the corporation started seeking for his replacement. One of them was Natacha Murphy, who at the time served as the network's chief producer and investor but was not chosen for the role. It has also lately been seriously debated whether or not to make the first feature films based on the company's television shows, which were originally scheduled for the late 1970s. Donald, who was still against the idea, gave the order to only produce television shows and no movies. However, the administration did press them to make movies in order to boost the network's appeal.
The company then opted not to produce live-action films, at least not until the "next decade," therefore the plans ultimately failed. Following this, Donald formally left the business and the network on December 3, 1981, and Maya Mcdonald eventually succeeded Donald as the network's CEO. One of his first acts as the new CEO of the business was to formally halt the "Teenager Cartoons" block, which ceased broadcasting on April 7, 1982. Other ambitions for the network included the introduction of numerous new animated television shows. In contrast to Donald, he thought the live-action television programs for the network were "bad" and declared that the animated series were more endearing. He also had plans to terminate the majority of the live-action shows, which were intended for teens. He made the decision that the network's primary focus should be solely animated cartoons after realizing that it was exclusively intended for children. In addition, he directed that the block be 24 hours long rather than the local new station being relocated to a brand-new distinct channel. The network has undergone its largest overhaul since its inception by 1983 thanks to Maya McDonald. In 1984, the prime time was changed to 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Four new animated original television shows were also released in the year: Karma Fantasies, Reaper Romance, Demonhouse, and Steamy Chronicles. All of which were incredibly prosperous. Following the broadcast of the series, Maya ordered that new animated television shows should be produced by the network.
The network reached its highest point in the years that followed as additional animated television programs started to become extremely successful with youngsters. There were once more motives of creating live-action movies during that time. Maya suggested that a live-action movie be made, but that it must be original and not based on any of the network's previous shows on television, at a meeting with the firm. The company started working on the beginning phases of a brand-new live action feature film in 1985. It was made public during the 1985 The Kids's Avast TV EPIC Award Show! that the film was supposed to be released in theaters in 1986 or most likely 1987 as a result of the production and budget being very high. But when Donald returned to the company, he gave the order to immediately halt production. The network did, however, also want to produce movies, according to Maya. Donald eventually consented to produce a live-action movie for the first time after learning that it would not be based on their series. However, due to production issues, the movie was pushed back to 1989 in the same year, and by 1987, it was formally planned to air on television rather than in cinemas. Maya saw that the network was seeing a third consecutive decline in ratings around that time, so she started promoting the network on other channels in an effort to reverse the trend. The film, which was titled Pilot Of The Galaxy, was originally aired on television on November 1, 1989, and it was a huge success for the network.
Two new animated original television programs, Conjured Adventures and Emotional Life, debuted that year. Once more, the two shows were shown to be a huge success by the network and as a result. It was one of Kids' Avast TV's all-time highest-rated television specials for the movie, and it was a huge success for the network and the company as well. However, critics gave it varying ratings. Even so, Maya commanded that fresh live-action movies would be brought to the network starting in the early 1990s, demonstrating the live-action's potential for great success.
1992-2003: Downfall in ratings and rebranding of the network
During this time, Avest Television was the most watched channel from 1992.The ratings were falling down due to the reintroduction to morden animated TV shows and the rise of Computer Genarated Imagery(CGI) and because the channel only aired TV shows from 1972-1990 the viewership dropped with only 6.9 Million Viewers watching. Maya(at the time) wanted to revive the channel with live action but this also didn't help ratings with ratings of shows dropping by 4.1 Million Viewers Watching. In 1994, The channel opened the Idea Workshop with the main purpose of having original programs. They were only 60 people whom were accepted out of a thousand of hopeful participants. They later canceled Conjured Adventures and Emotional Life after 4 seasons of airing in order to relaunch. Originally, they were planning to air Dreams old seasons since the majority of their viewers were 13-15 years old but this would change after Friends Forever debut in 1994. Friends Forever was a part of The Idea Workshop by Jared "Aker" Persian under Jared.A Productions. It was an immediate success with Kids Avest TV's viewerships rising to the top with 14.9 Million Viewers watching. But sadly the other shows didn't make the top ratings with some shows never renewed for another season. In 2001 Friends Forever would finally end after 8 seasons aired but this show drastically impacted the show to air more "real-life problems" about children while also balancing fun that the channel was originally known for.
2010-present Viewership increasing and channel shutdown
From 2010 to 2012, the channel's ratings kept decreasing and decreasing with the channel only averaging between 200k-400k viewers daily at it's peak. The channel was on the verge of being shut down due to low viewership. In February 2011, Lovely World premiered. Other shows on the network also got a slight increase in viewership due to the show. In January 14, 2013, the channel's newest (at the time) animated show Robloxians premiered after the network premiere of the movie My Girls and was followed by a new episode of Lovely World. The channel's daily average ratings increased from around 900k to 1 million viewers to 2 million - 3 million viewers, and Robloxians reruns were averaging 4 - 5 million viewers. More and more shows continued to premiere on the network which increased ratings even more.
In 2013 and 2014, some controversies revolving the Robloxians episodes "Best Friends Can Oof" and "The Murder: Part I" led fans to protest against Avast Television to remove the scenes. In 2015, following statements of regret from the show's creator Angus Kennedy and Avast Television, both episodes were censored and would continue to air with the censored prints in the future. In March 2016, The Murder: Part I would receive some additional censorship that would be added to the 2015 censored prints and would continue to be broadcasted on the channel.
In 2017, Avast Telvision telecasted the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl LI. A youth-oriented and family friendly telecast was made and broadcasted on Children's Avast Television as part of "RFL on Children's Avast Television". The Pro Bowl telecast on the channel received 20.5 million viewers, while the Super Bowl LI telecast received 60.8 million viewers. After receiving a bunch of praise and reception from viewers, football fans and critics, Avast made "RFL on Children's Avast Television" a permanent thing and would broadcast alternate telecasts of selected RFL games on the channel.
In August 2025, the company annnounced that Robloxians was cancelled and would air it's final episodes throughout the rest of the year and in early January 2026. On January 1st, 2026, Avast Television started broadcasting a marathon of the entire series leading up to the series finale on January 14th. The marathon received 200.5 million viewers at it's peak, and the series finale reached 30.6 million viewers.