Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

• Three new interactive games available for Children on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Red Button
• Red Button feature lets Children become CBeebies Star of the Week
• Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ gives further commitment to Children's broadcasting with launch of new Red Button service for children under six

The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ is launching a brand new red button interactive service for CBeebies, following the successful launch of the CBeebies iPlayer earlier in the year.

Pressing the red button on the CBeebies channel will take viewers into a new and enhanced interactive area, matching the channel by reflecting the needs and mood of children throughout the day, as well as offering three new games featuring CBeebies favourites In The Night Garden and the Green Balloon Club.

There will also be new-look Birthdays and Star Of The Week interactive sections allowing parents to request that their child's name be shown on screen.

The new design, developed by the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's TV Platforms team, features an easy-to-use carousel, making the interactive service visually engaging whilst grouping all of the CBeebies content in one place.

Children can quickly find all their favourite CBeebies red button TV programming and games on whichever platform they are using, ie digital satellite, cable or terrestrial.

Additionally, on Sky they can listen to CBeebies radio and Virgin Media customers will be able to access children's content on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ iPlayer.

John Denton, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Managing Editor, TV Platforms, said: "We're delivering a simple and engaging new experience for CBeebies viewers and we've really improved the kind of games that they can play. By tailoring each set of games to the specific platform being used by the viewer, we've been able to significantly improve the user experience and hopefully make the service much more enjoyable."

Michael Carrington, Controller of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Children's, said: "This specially-designed new interactive service offers children under six the chance to interact with CBeebies in new and exciting ways and provides a seamless experience between the linear channel and the red button service. It also provides more choice to families to be able to access quality entertainment at a time which suits everyone."

Notes to Editors

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Red Button

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Red Button has been providing interactive services on digital TV for 10 years and reaches an average audience of 11 million viewers a week accessing a whole range of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ content. It has allowed the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ to provide audiences with access to the latest news, weather and other information, while also enabling the delivery of an enhanced experience across major sporting and entertainment events.

This year, the red button delivered the most interactive Radio 1's Big Weekend and helped 6.1 million viewers enjoy the Glastonbury music festival, offered extensive F1 coverage including in-car live footage and CΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ commentary while perennial favourites included a 7.5 million crowd pleasing Wimbledon.

"Maestro Cam" was a new launch for this year's Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Proms coverage and well-received services accompanying Eurovision, The Chelsea Flower Show and Ashes To Ashes ensured great entertainment. With Sport, News and Weather available 24-hours-a-day, the red button service truly has something for everyone.

Keep up to date with the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Red Button on Twitter (@Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔRedButton) and the Red Button Blog, www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/pressred.

CBeebies

CBeebies remains the most watched and loved channel for the under sixes, with almost half of the target audience tuning in each week (parents and carers with children aged 0-3 and 4-6 year olds in digital homes) it reaches well over double (almost three times) the audience of its pre-school competitors. CBeebies website regularly reaches almost a million weekly users and reached more than one million unique users in the UK during the first week of February 2009, a record for the site.

DM