[interestednovice]

Which is presumably the same reason why some CITV content remained on ITV2 after it's channel closed

I think one of the primary reasons, from ITV’s perspective, is that they clearly seem to have some programmes where the rights have been negotiated in such a way that content is only allowed on ITVX if it has had a recent linear airing - meaning that they only have “catch up” rights and not rights to host the content ad infinitum with it never being broadcast on TV.

To get around this, they broadcast all of these shows in a block on ITV 2 which qualifies as the linear showing. This is a very low effort affair, and doesn’t use ITVX Kids branding, so is clearly done only for this contractual reason.

Officially, of course, it is also to serve children in households with poor internet access, who might struggle to see the content on ITVX, and ITV will be making that argument to Ofcom to appease them - but I have no doubt that if they could solve the rights issues and receive assurances that Ofcom didn’t care if they showed anything on linear TV, they would drop it like a tonne of bricks! ITV are probably expecting to be able to, eventually, justify ending the block by pointing Ofcom towards its low ratings as justification that nobody is watching. They will do this once they have sorted out rights first, of course. In the meantime, they will simply keep broadcasting it totally unadvertised in an effort to suppress viewership.

The BBC are likely to have both of the same issues, potentially to an even greater extent, as: 1) it’s the BBC, everybody has to pay for it so the expectation to cater to everyone is heightened significantly; 2) they have a large archive of content they still show on their linear channels which may not have had rights negotiated with iPlayer as a “streaming boxset service” in mind; 3) Ofcom are always more careful about BBC obligations and are unlikely to give them a free ride. Given that they are the last free linear channel left standing on Freeview, there will be extra pressure not to leave the audience completely unserved (even if it is a small audience, it is likely to be one which genuinely relies on the service).

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a permanent block on BBC Two appeared every morning post-closure and such a block would likely have extended hours during school holidays. It would solve a bit of a problem for the BBC anyway, in a sense, as BBC One now has all the daytime programming and BBC Two is stuck with NC simulcasts and filler. To put some children’s programming there would make sense.

If they do go for that, of course, it will be back to the future in many ways!