Sky recently made a significant improvement in the amount of on demand and catch up content it provides for children, raising the amount of shows on offer from around 700 to 4,000 but that's not the end of its commitment to the little'uns.

The channel has also announced that it has hired a head of kids content and will be releasing its own mobile application dedicated to entertaining kids early next year. The app will offer access to all of the streamed video content deemed age appropriate.

Its move comes after UK independent communications regulator Ofcom revealed that around 71 per cent of children aged five to 15 have access to a tablet device at home. A staggering one in three have their own tablet.

The Sky children's app will be aimed squarely at four to nine year-olds and they will find shows from all the major kids TV broadcasters ready to stream, including Nickelodeon, the Disney Channel and The Cartoon Network.

Even BBC properties, such as The Octonauts, will be involved, with the show's Captain Barnacle already part of "Operation Kids", Sky's new initiative to point viewers towards the dedicated children's section of the Sky+ home page.

The new menu screen offers simple access to kids TV recordings, on demand shows and details of live programming on channels such as CBeebies and Nick Jnr.