[7] Children's ITV went to air on Monday 3 January 1983,[9] between 4 and 5:15pm every weekday afternoon, the extra 15 minutes being filled by a repeat of one of the preschool programmes shown at lunchtime the same day.

The new live format gave brought a great deal of flexibility; timings could be altered, schedule changes reflected, and breakdowns dealt with in a continuous manner.

In 1988, the format was refreshed again with a new single presenter, Mark Granger,[12] replacing Terzza and Shore, in a smaller, more basic studio set which included in-vision monitors showing the VT clock of the next scheduled item.

[7] Central won back the contract to produce the continuity links from 9 April 1991, choosing to revert to a small in-vision studio using only one regular presenter, Tommy Boyd, and use their own new branding package.

Both saw several regions end in-house production of its programming in favour of commissioning independents, such as Tetra Films, which housed children's personnel from Thames.

[13] Soon after assuming control of Children's ITV, Airey dropped its in-vision presentation - beginning from 15 February 1993, Steve Ryde instead provided live out-of-vision continuity links featuring a variety of animated characters and settings.

[7] A heavily revamped live in-vision service and logo were introduced on Tuesday 26 May 1998 by the new controller of CITV output, Nigel Pickard, who had replaced Airey's successor Vanessa Chapman in January.

[17] By then coming fully under Carlton Television's branding, Central retained the contact to produce CITV for a further two years in 1999, successfully seeing off two rival bids from other ITV companies.

[23][24] CITV's online presence was additionally expanded, with its first fully-fledged standalone website launched by ITV and web design agency Workhouse on 25 October 1999.

[32] Grace went further and complained to the ITC, claiming CITV was unlikely to fulfil its range of programming commitments in expensive genres like drama the following year.

Around the same time, greater emphasis was placed on viewer engagement with the launch of a CITV text messaging service,[34] interactive online vote events,[35] and a new pre-school sub-strand also introduced under the name "Telly Tots", which replaced the in-vision presentation between 3:20 and 3:40pm with a CGI-animated town of cartoon mascots.

[36] Grace's experiment in introducing a 'stripped' daily weekday schedule to the strand inspired by American broadcasters such as Nickelodeon (where she had previously worked[37]) additionally failed, after initially increasing viewership.

[38] Despite its cutbacks and falling ratings, the ITC contended in its 2002 performance review that CITV had "sustained an impressive schedule", gave "factual material a fresh look", and "continued to produce good dramas".

[39] In-house promotions additionally maintained graphics refreshes,[40] and presentation producers Sid Cole and Martyn Fox took the strand on tour at theme parks during the summer months of 2001 and 2002.

[41][42] Soon after CITV celebrated its 20th anniversary in January 2003, Grace left her post, just before her predecessor and former Television South colleague Nigel Pickard became ITV's new overall Director of Programmes.

[46] Once again, concerns about CITV and its structure were highlighted by Angus Fletcher, president of Jim Henson Television Europe, and Anne Wood, founder of Ragdoll Productions, as it could only earn money from a then-unreliable advertising market, unlike BBC Worldwide, where the likes of Teletubbies, Tweenies, and Bob the Builder became key earners for the corporation via merchandising and licencing.

[48] On-screen, various changes to the in-vision presentation team saw no less than eight host additions and replacements over the course of four years, and a September 2003 branding refresh coincided with a reduction in studio space and time for the service.

[50] After a brief period surrounding the Granada and Carlton merger in which CITV's budget was slightly increased again by £7.5 million,[51] a third round of cuts took place due to the perceived rising costs of original production and the imminent effects on advertising revenues from a ban by Ofcom on 'junk food' advertising within children's schedules from 2007,[52][53][54] as well as increasing competition from CBBC and numerous other digital children's channels for new programmes (especially imported cartoons, typically from the United States).

[55] The closure and confirmation that the network were seeking to lobby Ofcom in an effort to reduce its required children's programming hours saw CITV controller Estelle Hughes resign.

[58] A simulcast of the CITV channel was broadcast on ITV during weekend mornings, continuing after the brand's original weekday afternoon strand was axed.

[59] Plans for a standalone CITV digital channel were first put in motion and reported as far back as 2000,[27][62][29][63] but were placed on hold indefinitely following its budget cuts in 2001.

[33] When Steven Andrew became controller of children and youth programming at ITV plc in 2003, he stated that "No kids strategy is complete without us being able to play in the cable and satellite world.

[64] ITV director and former CITV controller Nigel Pickard additionally admitted the network's output for children had become "a minnow in a sea of twenty channels".

[74] Its launch coincided with a full visual identity rebrand; though out-of-vision voiceover announcements remained, the refresh was intended to bring back "the kind of brash children's ITV of more than a decade ago".

It was made clear that due to tight budgets, the slightly increased spend could nonetheless simply lead to more acquisitions rather than new original programmes being commissioned.

The channel's promotions team headed by Dave Hickman additionally continued to produce original short-form content, such as the BAFTA-award-winning Share a Story campaign.

[86] Following its move from the former Granada studios to MediaCityUK in 2012,[87] and several rounds of redundancies in the years prior,[88] CITV's dedicated in-house promotions and presentation unit was axed in November 2016.

[90] At the same time, ITV abandoned its programming director role specifically for children's television last occupied by Jamila Metran, leaving existing channel and genre teams to direct CITV's output.

[94] On Monday 19 September 2022, due to the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II, the channel's normal programming was replaced by ITV London's feed[95][96][97] This was in contrast to CBBC and CBeebies, which did not carry the BBC's coverage.

[104] Some of the channel's most notable programming has been specially commissioned by CITV, such as Horrid Henry, Mr. Bean: The Animated Series, Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids, Thunderbirds Are Go, and Sooty.