 Final logo used from January 1, 2017 to January 12, 2025 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | Garland, Texas |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Picture format | 480iSDTV |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Trinity Broadcasting Network |
| History | |
| Launched | December 24, 2005; 19 years ago (2005-12-24) |
| Closed | January 12, 2025; 10 months ago (2025-01-12) |
| Replaced by | |
| Former names | Smile of a Child (2005–2016) |
| Links | |
| Website | smileofachildtv.org (archived January 2017) |
Smile (shortened from its former name ofSmile of a Child) was an AmericanChristianfree-to-airtelevision network owned and operated by theTrinity Broadcasting Network. The network was aimed at children aged 2–12 and offered a mixture of children's religious and family-oriented programming. The network was founded as the television branch of TBN'sSmile of a Child ministry, created by TBN co-founderJan Crouch.
Smile was also available on pay television providers, which usually carried it in a suite with TBN's other networks,[1] in addition to worldwide satellite and streaming availability. In addition, the parent network TBN carried a "Smile" block on Saturday mornings.[2]
The channel closed on January 12, 2025, with its programming being moved to the TBN-operated streaming platformYippee TV.
Founded asSmile of a Child TV by TBN co-founderJan Crouch, the network was developed and named after Smile of a Child, a children's outreach ministry founded by Jan andPaul Crouch in the 1990s to provide services and donations to needy children worldwide.[4] The network launched on December 24, 2005 at 3:00 a.m.Eastern Time, with the holiday-themed specialMartin the Cobbler as its inaugural program.[5]
Smile of a Child was initially available as a 24-hour-a-day service on all platforms, and debuted ondigital subchannels of TBNowned-and-operated station in 13 markets.[6] Over the subsequent years, Smile expanded its national coverage to all of TBN's owned-and-operated and affiliated stations in nearly 40 markets, carried usually on the fifth subchannel (for example, if the local TBN station broadcasts on channel 17, then Smile would be carried on digital subchannel 17.5).
On June 1, 2015, Smile of a Child was combined into a single subchannel with a sister networkJUCE TV (which targeted teenagers and young adults 13 to 30 years of age), under a timeshare arrangement. As a result of the realignment, for over-the-air viewers, Smile was originally reduced to a 9-hour daily programming schedule (from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern Time) on the third subchannel occupied by JUCE (which continued to air over its existing subchannel slot for the remainder of the broadcast day) on the 38 stations owned directly by TBN and through its subsidiaryCommunity Educational Television. The following week, the timeshare was modified so that Smile would air from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Eastern), with JUCE airing the remainder of the day, giving each network a daily 12-hour window on its owned-and-operated stations' DT3 subchannels.[7]
The change, which was required due to multiplexing limitations at the time with TBN's over-the-air stations, was required due to the launch ofTBN Salsa, a digital subchannel network targetingEnglish-speakingLatino viewers which launched on that date.[1]
Although it had a reduced presence on broadcast television, Smile continued to maintain a 24-hour-day schedule via live stream on TBN's website, andmobile anddigital media players as well as on select cable and satellite providers that carry the TBN multicast networks, as was the case before the over-the-air consolidation of the two networks.[1] The network rebranded as simply "Smile" on January 1, 2017, with an updated network imaging, including its logo and continuity.
On January 1, 2020, TBN resumed offering a 24-hour feed of Smile on its multicast tier over the DT3 subchannel of its owned-and-operated stations. Concurrently, JUCE TV was moved to the DT5 feed previously occupied by TBN Salsa, which was discontinued from its broadcast stations in May 2019, when astandard definition feed of the main TBN signal began being offered as a placeholder feed.
In February 2021, Olympusat, the main provider of TBN's networks to cable providers in the United States (includingVerizon FiOS andXfinity), discontinued carriage of the network, thus affecting carriage of Smile to those systems.[8]
Smile closed on January 12, 2025, promos announcing the channel's closure began airing in December 2024; TBN moved its programming to its Christian children's streaming serviceYippee TV.[9] Outside of TBN's non-commercial broadcast stations that carried Smile (which removed their channel space entirely), the channel space is currently leased byOnTV4U, an all-paid programming network.[10]
Following the closures ofQubo Channel and Smile TV, the24/7 PBS Kids Channel would remain as the only full-time over-the-air children's network in the United States (aside fromMeTV Toons).
2008:Parents Television Council Entertainment Seal of Approval[3]
