Slate - "Sorry Arthur and Sesame Street"

Enough with the plaudits on PBS Kids, the best pre-school programming on TV is BBC's CBeebies!

By Alyssa, Sydney and Damon King, Slate Magazine

If you have a young child or maybe if you are, you currently know PBS Kids is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The fact that PBS Kids, still charming and useful at times, is no longer the most engaging kids' TV network. that distinction now belongs to BBC's CBeebies!

Currently under a rebrand which began on Christmas, CBeebies has garnered critical acclaim and quickly established itself as the most beloved and most watched children's channel in the UK (according to Nielsen, the channel itself has more than 500,000 viewers at home). Like PBS Kids, CBeebies offers a range of educational programmes that teach skills such as problem solving, science, math, literacy, and social skills. But the similarities end here!

CBeebies is hip, edgy, and current! It's the TV network for pre-school children whose parents aren't ready for going into their rock, pop, and hip-hop days! It has bands performing their own tracks such as the Roots, Rising Stars, and Barefoot Bluegrass. Its daily "Dancey Dance" segment is hosted by celebrity guest stars such as James Corden, Demi Lovato, and Matthew Perry. So successful that hipster adults without children watch the channel since its launch in February 2002.

We first came across CBeebies looking for a break from Sesame Street, Arthur, Clifford, and Cyberchase. CBeebies' hipster bona fides have drawn considerable attention and have grown to its popularity. Plus, our older sister Juliet doesn't know the Rising Stars from a hole in the ground until watching the channel.

At the center of CBeebies is a black presenter, a brown curly-haired presenter, a black haired presenter of Hi5 fame, a brown haired presenter of Wiggles fame, a brown haired Crickets presenter and two fanciful presenters - one who has her arm cut short and the other welsh. Each day is a nonstop extravaganza of great shows and characters.

Watching PBS Kids, by contrast is a depressing, dull activity. Watching PBS Kids left us bored and uninterested.

CBeebies' blocks include Get Set Go (6:00am-9:00am), Discover + Do (9:00am-3:00pm), Big Fun Time (3:00pm-6:00pm), and Bedtime Hour (6:00pm-7:00pm).

CBeebies has musical performances by Bluegrass bands such as Fun., who performed We Are Young with Janelle Monae.  We Are Young's violent scenes were replaced by the group flying on squares singing the song.  Fun. sings a song that teens may be ready for. CBeebies is groundbreaking in both hip-hop in television.

So while you won't be learning social skills with a talking tiger or curiosity with a michevious monkey, from CBeebies, it's the best thing going on children's television according to money. There will be time for literacy, math, and science down the road along with various math and science activities. For now, it's children's TV with a hip-hop beat!