Dessin

Dessin is a British free-to-air televison channel that airs animated content from various countries, mainly syndicated but with some programming that is fully original or exclusively broadcast on the channel in the UK. The channel launched on July 11, 2014 and is currently available through Freeview, Virgin Media and Sky in the UK and Ireland, as well as TalkTalk TV, BT TV and Plusnet TV in the UK. As of December 2018 the main channel has an audience share of 0.18%, with the +1 service having a share of 0.03%.

The channel airs a variety of content ranging from child-friendly to teen-oriented.

2014
The channel was launched on July 11, 2014, being broadcast in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta. Original content was scare in its early years, airing mostly syndicated series as well as various animated movies. Its original broadcast hours were 7am - 10pm. An HD feed of the channel was launched shortly after on September 1, 2014.

2016
On January 1, 2016, the channel's broadcast hours was extended to 24 hours a day, albeit with 2 hours of teleshopping from 3am-5am to fill the late night gaps. A +1 feed was introduced on May 1, 2016.

The channel became free to air when it was added to Freeview on August 1, 2016.

Main channel
The channel can be found at channel 83 on Freeview, channel 163 on Virgin Media, channel 176 on Sky, and channel 306 on TalkTalk TV, BT TV and Plusnet TV (which all run under YouView).

+1 service
The +1 timeshift service can be found at channel 223 on Virgin Media, channel 238 on Sky, and channel 331 on TalkTalk TV, BT TV and Plusnet TV.

HD feed
Depending on the provider, the HD feed may only be included with higher tier packages than the SD feed. The HD feed can be found at channel 224 on Virgin Media, channel 239 on Sky, and channel 372 on TalkTalk TV, BT TV and Plusnet TV.

Dessin +1
The timeshift service Dessin +1 was launched on February 2, 2015, airing all content an hour after they air on the main channel.

Dessin HD
A high-definition feed of the channel was launched September 1, 2014.

Overseas
The first foreign versions of Dessin were launched in France and Spain on April 6, 2015. Note that in France the channel is called Dibujo due to Dessin being the French word for drawing, with Dibujo being Spanish for the same word. The channel was subsequently launched in Germany on December 1, 2015, and Italy and Poland on July 1, 2016.

Programming
Main article: List of programmes broadcast by Dessin

Upon launch the channel exclusively aired reruns of animated series from other networks and animated films. It soon began to air some original programming and has also become the only UK broadcaster for various animated series, including several series from US channel Kingson. Its most popular series include Meelk n' Creem, King of the Hill, Risky Frizz, and its most popular original series Ghost Town.

Other broadcasts
Main article: Dessin/blocks and events

Films
The channel has shown several animated films over the years. Since 2017 the channel has run "Friday Films", with a film being shown every fortnight on a Friday evening/night. In December this is rebranded as "Festive Film Fridays" with Christmas films being aired. The channel airs a mixture of popular family films such as How to Train Your Dragon and Shrek, as well as acclaimed smaller films such as Yellow Submarine and It's Such a Beautiful Day.

Marathons
The channel has also held several marathons over the years, typically with a theme, for example the 2018 Father's Day Marathon included episodes from several series involving character's fathers and fatherhood. They also occasionally hold film marathons where animated films are broadcast for several hours.

Accessibility
All content on Dessin contains subtitles for the hard of hearing, and content aired from 6-7am contains sign language (in compliance with the Communications Act 2003 which states that 5% of broadcasts must contain sign language).

All original series contain audio description, as well as every episode of Meelk n' Creem and the acquired series Final Space.

App
The Dessin app was launched on August 1, 2016. It allows users to watch clips of Dessin series, check the schedules for Dessin and Dessin2, take quizzes based on Dessin series, and more.

The app is available on Apple, Google Play and Windows. It has 650,000 downloads as of March 2021.

Content rating system
Due to the channel's content ranging from child to teen-friendly, a rating is shown before each episode and movie broadcast. They are also briefly shown after advert breaks. The ratings are as follows:


 * All: Suitable for all ages. May contain mild comic or slapstick violence, as well as very mild language and sexual references.
 * 8+: May be unsuitable for those under 8. May contain mild to moderate violence, mild language and mild sexual and drug references.
 * 12+ : Likely to be unsuitable for those under 12. May contain moderate violence and gore, moderate or infrequent strong language, and moderate sex, drug and sucide references. Note that strong language is only allowed after the 9pm watershed (and is very rare to air even then), and some content in a 12+ may be cut before the watershed.

Picture format
Content on the channel is shown in 16:9. Any content that was produced in 4:3 (such as Rocko's Modern Life) are pillarboxed to be shown in their original format.