Nickelodeon

This article is about the flagship American version of Nickelodeon. For the other international versions of the channel, see Nickelodeon (around the world).

Nickelodeon

Country	United States
Headquarters	New York City
Ownership
Owner	MTV Networks (Viacom)

Nickelodeon (usually abbreviated as Nick, and originally named Pinwheel from 1977 to 1979) is an American cable television network owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. Since 2006, Nickelodeon has been run by MTVN Kids & Family Group president Cyma Zarghami. The channel is aimed mostly at children ages 6–12, with the exception of their prime time block that is aimed at teenagers ages 13–20, and the weekday morning programming that is aimed at children ages 2–5.

Nickelodeon's broadcast day runs on Monday through Thursdays from 7:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m., Fridays from 7:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m., Saturdays from 6:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. and Sundays from 6:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. (Eastern and Pacific Time). It shares space with Nick at Nite, a nighttime channel/programming block airing mainly sitcom reruns, created in 1985, that airs during the interim hours and is treated as a separate channel from Nickelodeon by A.C. Nielsen Co. for ratings purposes.

History

File:Pinwheellogo1.gif

The Pinwheel logo.

Early history (1977–1979)

Nickelodeon's pre-history began on December 1, 1977 when QUBE, the first two-way interactive cable TV system was launched in Columbus, Ohio by Warner Cable (owned by Warner Communications, and an ancestor of Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment). One of the specialized channels available to subscribers of the QUBE system was Pinwheel, a cable channel offering children's programming, which ran for only about six minutes each day.

Relaunch as Nickelodeon and national expansion (1979–1990)

Pinwheel was re-launched as Nickelodeon on April 1, 1979, and despite its prior history on the QUBE system under the Pinwheel name, Nickelodeon has declared that 1979 is the network's official launch year. It began airing on various Warner Cable systems, beginning in Buffalo, New York and quickly expanded its audience reach. Shows airing during its broadcast day included Video Comic Book, Pop Clips and the long-running Pinwheel (now formatted as a daily hour-long series that ran in a 3-5 hour block format, and was a precursor to the Nick Jr. block) along with other shows such as America Goes Bananaz, Nickel Flicks and By the Way. In 1980, new shows were added to the lineup, including Dusty's Treehouse, First Row Features, Special Delivery, What Will They Think Of Next?, Livewire, and Hocus Focus. Also in the same year, Video Comic Book was renamed to Video Comicz.

File:Nick-old.jpg

The original Nickelodeon logo from April 1, 1979 to 1984.

The network's original logo was a silver pinball with the "Nickelodeon" title in multicolor. Nickelodeon's first popular series was You Can't Do That On Television, a Canadian sketch comedy that made its American debut on Nickelodeon in late 1981. On April 12, 1981, the channel extended its hours from 8 a.m. (EST) to 9 p.m. (EST) by turning its channel over to the Alpha Repertory Television Service (ARTS) and, later until 1985, A&E Network after ARTS merged with NBC's strugling cable service The Entertainment Channel. In 1983, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment began divesting its assets and spun off Nickelodeon and two other channels, MTV and the now-defunct Radio Television Station (RTS) into the newly-formed subsidiary MTV Networks. After a while the network became known for its iconic green slime, originally featured in You Can't Do That on Television. The green slime was then adopted by the channel as a primary feature of many of its shows. In the early years, other shows such as Livewire, Standby: Lights, Camera, Action, The Third Eye and Mr. Wizard's World were part of the regular Nickelodeon time slots.

The channel struggled at first, having lost $4 million by 1984, and finishing dead last among the cable channels. After firing the previous staff, MTV Networks president Bob Pittman turned to Fred Seibert and Alan Goodman, who created MTV's iconic IDs a few years earlier, to reverse Nickelodeon's fortunes. Seibert and Goodman's company, Fred/Alan, teamed up with Tom Corey and Scott Nash of the advertising firm Corey McPherson Nash to replace the "Pinball" logo with the "orange splat" logo with the name Nickelodeon written in Balloon font, that would be used in hundreds of different variations for the next quarter century. Fred/Alan also enlisted the help of animators, writers, producers and doo-wop group The Jive Five to create new idents for the channel. Within six months of the rebranding, Nickelodeon went from worst to first and has stayed there for more than 25 years even with increasing competition in recent years from other kids-oriented cable channels such as Disney Channel and Cartoon Network.

In January 1985, after A&E dropped its partnership with Nickelodeon and became its own 24-hour channel, Nickelodeon simply went to a test screen after sign-off. That July, Nick added a new nighttime block called Nick at Nite, and became a 24-hour a day service. That same year, American Express sold their stake in Warner-Amex to Warner Communications and was renamed Warner Cable; by 1987, Warner Cable turned MTV Networks into a private company, and sold MTV, RTS and Nickelodeon to Viacom for $685 million. In 1988, Nick aired the first annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (previously known as The Big Ballot) and introduced Nick Jr., an educational block for younger children around preschool age.

Success in the 1990s and the 2000s (1990–2009)

By October 1990, Nickelodeon was seen in 52 million homes across the United States. In 1990, Nickelodeon opened Nickelodeon Studios, a television studio/attraction, at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando which many of its sitcoms and game shows were filmed and entered into a multimillion-dollar joint marketing agreement with international restaurant chain Pizza Hut, which involved launching Nickelodeon Magazine, available for free at participating Pizza Hut restaurants. In 1991, for the first time, Nickelodeon developed its first animated series, Doug, The Ren and Stimpy Show, and Rugrats. These series, known as Nicktoons, premiered on August 11, 1991. The network had previously refused to produce weekly animated series due to high cost. The three Nicktoons found success in 1993, while in mid-1993, Nickelodeon developed its fourth Nicktoon, Rocko's Modern Life, which was also a success along with the three other Nicktoons. Later, Nickelodeon partnered with Sony Wonder and released top selling video cassettes of the show's programming. By 1994, Doug ended production and on May 22, 1994, Rugrats was in a production hiatus, but Rocko's Modern Life and The Ren and Stimpy Show were still in production and airing. In mid-1996, Nickelodeon developed two new Nicktoons, KaBlam! and Hey Arnold! which would take the place of Rocko's Modern Life and The Ren and Stimpy Show since they would both end production about that time, but still would air re-runs up until about 2001. Rugrats, on the other hand, returned from hiatus on May 9, 1997 (reruns continued to air up until that point). In 1998, The Rugrats Movie came out. The movie grossed more than $100 million in the United States and became the first non-Disney animated movie to ever sell that high.

File:Nickelodeon logo.svg

One of the many variants of the logo used from 1984 to September 28, 2009; this particular version was used from 2006 until the September 28, 2009 rebrand. Still used on newer products in tandem with the newer logo.

In August 1992, the channel extended its Saturday schedule to 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET with the launch of a primetime block called SNICK, which was home to shows such as Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Clarissa Explains It All, All That, The Amanda Show and Kenan & Kel; in 2004, the block was reformatted as the Saturday edition of TEENick (which originally debuted on Sunday evenings in 2000), and the Saturday night block continues today without a name (the TEENick branding, with its spelling altered to TeenNick, has since been used on the Nicklelodeon sister channel previously known as The N). In June 1993, Nickelodeon resumed its magazine brand, Nickelodeon Magazine. In 1994, Nickelodeon removed You Can't Do That on Television from its schedule after thirteen years and by the same year the network had launched a new sketch comedy show, All That. For many years, until its cancellation in 2005, All That would launch the careers of many actors and actresses including Kenan Thompson, Amanda Bynes, and Jamie Lynn Spears. The show's executive producer, Dan Schneider, would go on to create and produce several hit series for Nickelodeon including The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, iCarly and Victorious, among others.

In 1994, Nickelodeon also launched The Big Help (called The Big Green Help from 2007 to 2010), a public service initiative created to encourage kids to volunteer in local communities. It expanded in 2001 by encouraging kids to talk with their friends and loved ones. In October and December 1994, Nickelodeon sold Halloween and Christmas themed episodes of its Nicktoons through syndication to local markets across the United States, with then-new former corporate relative, Paramount Domestic Television (now CBS Television Distribution).

In October 1995, Nickelodeon ventured in the World Wide Web and launched Nick.com. Initially the website was available only using America Online's internet service, but was later available to all internet service providers and became a strong promotional tool for Nickelodeon. The website's popularity grew and in March 1999, Nick.com became the highest rated website for children aged six to fourteen years old. Nickelodeon used the website in conjunction with television programs which increased traffic. In 2001, Nickelodeon partnered with Networks Inc. to provide broadband video games for rent from Nick.com. The move was a further step in the multimedia direction that the developers wanted to take the website. Skagerlind indicated that over 50% of Nick.com's audience are using a high speed connection which allows them to expand the gaming options on the website. To accompany the broadband content, TurboNick was created. Initially it was a popup panel which showcased broadband content on Nick.com.

Nickelodeon Studios closed down in 2005 and was converted into the Blue Man Group Sharp Aquos Theatre in 2007; Nickelodeon now tapes its live-action series at the Nickelodeon On Sunset studios (formerly the Earl Carroll Theatre) in Hollywood, California and other studio locations in Hollywood and other areas. In 2007, Nickelodeon began a four-year development deal with Sony Music to produce music-themed series for the channel, help fund and launch albums in conjunction with the label tied to Nickelodeon shows and produce original songs for the programs to be released as singles as result; the only series produced under the partnership that was greenlit as a series, Victorious debuted in 2010; though a similar music-themed sitcom Big Time Rush that debuted the same year features a similar partnership with Columbia Records, though with Columbia only being involved with the show's music, Sony Music became involved with that show's production midway through its first season.

Rebranding and plans for the 2010s (2009–present)

Nickelodeon had announced in February 2009 that Noggin and The N were to be rebranded as Nick Jr. and TeenNick to bring both channels in line with the Nickelodeon brand identity. Nickelodeon later announced in May 2009 that Nick Magazine would be discontinued by the end of the year. In July 2009, Nickelodeon unveiled a new logo for the first time in 25 years on the packaging of Nickelodeon DVDs coming out beginning that month, the Australian service, and that year's Nickelodeon Animation Festival, intending to create a unified look that can better be conveyed across all of MTV Networks's children's channels.

As of September 28, 2009, the new logo is used across Nickelodeon, and Nick at Nite, along with the rebranded TeenNick, Nick Jr. and Nicktoons (The N, Noggin and Nicktoons Network, respectively) channels in varying iterations customized for brand unification and refreshment purposes; a new logo for Nickelodeon Productions also began being used in end credit tags on all Nickelodeon shows, even on episodes aired before the new logo took effect (end credit tags of programs airing on TeenNick, Nick Jr. and some shows on Nicktoons only use the current Nickelodeon Productions logo and variants for their respective channel's original programming on episodes of series made after the rebrand). The Nickelodeon rebrand was created by New York based creative studio Trollbäck + Company. A revised instrumental version of the Nickelodeon audio ident originally performed by The Jive Five was the only part of the "splat logo" era that was retained in the rebrand. Reaction to the rebrand has been largely mixed, though many fans of 1980s and 1990s Nickelodeon have expressed dislike over the rebranded logo. Though it is mainly a wordmark, during the days prior to the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards, the logo bug was given a blimp background to match the award given out at the show. The new logo was adopted in the UK on February 15, 2010, in Spain on February 19, 2010, in Asia on March 15, 2010 and in Latin America on April 5, 2010. The "Nick on TV5" block on TV5 in the Philippines will adopt the rebranded logo May 1, 2010 together with the new TV5 logo.

On November 2, 2009, a Canadian version of Nickelodeon was launched, in partnership between Viacom and Corus Entertainment (owners of YTV, which has aired Nick shows for several years, and will continue to do so); as a result, versions of Nickelodeon now exist in the majority of North America's countries.

Acquisition of Power Rangers

On May 12, 2010, after an agreement was reached between Haim Saban (who recently bought back rights to the franchise from The Walt Disney Company) and MTV Networks, Nickelodeon announced that it had purchased the television rights to the Power Rangers franchise, and the series is slated to resume production for an eighteenth season scheduled to debut on Nickelodeon starting sometime in 2011; as part of the deal, Nickelodeon also plans to air the existing 700 episode catalog of the series on Nicktoons Network in the later part of 2010.

Programming

Main articles: List of programs broadcast by Nickelodeon and List of films broadcast by Nickelodeon

Current programming on Nickelodeon includes SpongeBob SquarePants, iCarly, The Troop, The Fairly OddParents, True Jackson, VP, Back at the Barnyard, Victorious, The Penguins of Madagascar, Big Time Rush, The Mighty B!, Fanboy and Chum Chum and BrainSurge. Reruns of discontinued Nickelodeon shows also air including Drake & Josh, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (based the Nickelodeon-produced feature film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius) and All Grown Up!. SpongeBob SquarePants and iCarly are the most frequently aired programs on Nickelodeon, with SpongeBob in particular typically airing about 7-9 times each day on average. iCarly currently ranks as of 2010 as the channel's highest-rated original series and the highest-rated cable program among children ages 2 and up, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Nickelodeon also continues to air bi-monthly special editions of the long-running magazine series Nick News, hosted by Linda Ellerbee since its debut in 1992 (until the early 2000s, Nick News had aired on Nick on an almost weekly basis on Sunday nights). On February 2, 2009, Nickelodeon discontinued the TEENick and Nick Jr. programming blocks but the programming within the blocks remained; the former TEENick Saturday evening and Sunday late afternoon blocks no longer carry a name.

On October 21, 2009, it was announced that Nickelodeon secured the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise from Mirage Studios. The network plans to develop a new CGI-animated TMNT television series and will partner with fellow Viacom company Paramount Pictures to bring a new TMNT movie to theaters. Both are expected for 2012. On March 11, 2010, Nickelodeon announced the renewals of 16 of its existing series for the 2010-11 season that include the second season renewals of freshman series The Troop and Big Time Rush (the latter series was picked up for another season after only 10 episodes aired) and veteran series such as iCarly (whose fourth season renewal was already announced in late 2009), True Jackson, VP and SpongeBob SquarePants among others. The channel also announced the additions of an English-language version of the Dutch live-action Nickelodeon series Het Huis Anubis called House of Anubis, an animated series version of Kung Fu Panda, the animated series T.U.F.F. Puppy and the preschool series Bubble Guppies for the Nick Play Date block. Nickelodeon will also air episodes of an earlier-planned third season of the animated series Invader Zim, which were originally left unfinished due to the show's 2008 cancellation by the channel.

Unlike most cable channels (save for sports-oriented channels), Nickelodeon is sometimes susceptible to programs overrunning their designated timeslot because of short-form segments airing in commercial breaks during special programming which add time to commercial breaks with no limiting of the number of commercials shown when these segments air between breaks, this often causes program start times to be disrupted, which is problematic for those recording Nick programs as part of the program may be cut off. In these circumstances, commercial breaks may be shortened during some programs on Nick at Nite's late evening and overnight schedules and regular "top-and-bottom of the hour" start times would not be restored until early the next morning.

Nicktoons

Main article: Nicktoons

Nicktoons are animated television series produced by and aired on Nickelodeon. Until 1991, the animated series that aired on Nickelodeon were largely imported from foreign countries. Nicktoons continue to make up a substantial portion of Nickelodeon's lineup, with roughly 6–7 hours airing on weekdays and around nine hours on weekends including a five-hour weekend morning block. Within the last few years, since the channel struck a development deal with DreamWorks Animation in 2006 to develop the studio's animated films into weekly series, there has been a gradual shift towards Nicktoon series using three-dimensional computer animation rather than traditional or digital two-dimensional ink and paint; the introductions of The Penguins of Madagascar and Fanboy and Chum Chum to the channel's lineup reflect this, and the channel is scheduled to launch more 3D computer-animated series in the future with the future additions of animated series versions of Kung Fu Panda and Monsters vs. Aliens.

Programming blocks

Various types of programs are broadcast on Nickelodeon in named programming blocks.

Nick programs on other channels

On November 9, 1998, Spanish-language versions of Rugrats, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Hey Arnold!, Rocko's Modern Life, KaBlam!, and Blue's Clues debuted on Telemundo. Nickelodeon programs were seen on Telemundo on weekdays until September 5, 2000, when they were relegated on weekends only, to make room for a morning news program. Telemundo removed all Nickelodeon programs from it's line-up in November 2001. On September 14, 2002, A 2-hour block featuring Blue's Clues, Dora the Explorer, As Told by Ginger, The Wild Thornberrys, Hey Arnold!, and Pelswick debuted on most CBS stations until 2004. Then in 2004, A 2-hour block featuring Nick Jr. shows debuted on most CBS stations. Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, and Pinky Dinky Doo from Noggin began airing on a Univision block called Planeta U (Planet U in english).

Preschool programming block

Nickelodeon currently programs shows targeted at preschool-age children on Monday through Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET/PT. This block was known as Nick Jr. from 1988 to 2009 and the Nick Play Date from 2009 onward. The block exists because Nickelodeon's usual audience of school-age children are in school at that time; as such, on holidays, a shorter, earlier block of preschool shows will air, and the block does not air on weekends. It competes with the Playhouse Disney block on Disney Channel and Ready Set Learn on Discovery Kids.

Programming in this block is somewhat fluid, but currently, Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, Max and Ruby, Team Umizoomi and The Fresh Beat Band have a permanent place in the schedule. Other shows, such as Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, Yo Gabba Gabba!, Wonder Pets and The Backyardigans air on a rotating basis. On holidays, Nick's preschool block is shortened from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET/PT.

Nick@Nite

Main article: Nick at Nite

The programming block, which started in 1985, broadcasts over Nickelodeon on Sundays from 9 p.m.-7 a.m., Monday through Thursdays from 8 p.m.-7 a.m., and on Fridays from 9 p.m.-6 a.m. ET/PT and Saturdays from 10 p.m.-6 a.m. ET/PT. Originally featuring classic sitcoms such as The Donna Reed Show, Mr. Ed and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, programming changed to repeats of popular sitcoms from the 1980s and 1990s such as Full House, Home Improvement, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Roseanne.

Programs currently airing on Nick at Nite include George Lopez, Family Matters, The Cosby Show, The Nanny and most recently Malcolm in the Middle, and Everybody Hates Chris. A.C. Nielsen rates Nick at Nite as being a separate cable channel from Nickelodeon. In 1996, the original older programming was spun off of Nick at Nite as a new channel entitled TV Land, which currently airs a variety of older shows, primarily sitcoms from the 1950s through today.

Sister channels

Current channels

Nicktoons

Main article: Nicktoons (TV channel)

This channel debuted in 2002, and was once known as Nicktoons TV and until September 2009 as Nicktoons Network. The channel airs classic Nicktoons during the overnight and early morning hours, and also airs Nicktoons produced exclusively for the channel and current first-run Nicktoons aired on Nickelodeon during the daytime and evening hours, along with a minimal amount of live-action programs from Nickelodeon. The channel is carried on a separate digital cable tier and is carried on expanded satellite packages.

Nick Jr.

Main article: Nick Jr.

This United States-based television channel aimed at preschool-aged children, originally launched as a joint venture between MTV Networks and Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) before Sesame Workshop opted out of the venture in 2002, has only programming promotions in lieu of commercials and is usually carried on a digital cable tier and the basic tiers of satellite providers. Originally launching in 1999 and based on the former Noggin, which starting in 2002, shared channel space with the teen-oriented The N (now TeenNick, and operating as a separate channel from Nick Jr. since December 31, 2007), the network was rebranded Nick Jr. as of September 28, 2009. The channel is named after the former Nick Jr. preschool program block on Nickelodeon, that ran weekday mornings from January 1988 to February 2009.

TeenNick

Main article: TeenNick

This television channel in the United States is aimed at teenagers and young adults. The channel once shared the evening and overnight portion of each day with Noggin as The N (in a similar manner to Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite) starting on April 1, 2002, but on December 31, 2007 it took over Nickelodeon GAS's position as a stand-alone channel. The network was rebranded as TeenNick (with actor Nick Cannon as its' "chairman") on September 28, 2009. The channel is named after the former TEENick weekend evening program block on Nickelodeon, that ran from July 2000 to February 2009.

TV Land

Main article: TV Land

A cable channel that was created based on the Nick at Nite block, it aired classic programming from as far back as the early 1950s. Starting in 2004, TV Land moved to more modern programming such as reality shows and 1990s TV sitcoms. TV Land's website is TVLand.com. In 2007, TV Land created a programming block called, "TV Land PRIME." TV Land PRIME runs from 9 p.m. until 12 a.m. ET/PT (though curiously, shows that air within the block that are aired in timeslots outside of the block display the block's logo bug). TV Land PRIME is a programming block aimed towards TV Land viewers that are in the 40- to 55-year-old range. In 2006, TV Land stopped operating under the control of Nick at Nite though it is still operated as part of Viacom's MTV

Former channels

Nickelodeon GAS

Main article: Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids

Nickelodeon GAS, (or Nick GAS; full name Nickelodeon Games And Sports for Kids), was an American digital cable and satellite television channel that was launched on March 1, 1999 as part of MTV Networks' suite of digital cable channels. Nick GAS was essentially a children's version of (and Viacom's answer to) Game Show Network (now branded as GSN), which had launched in December 1994. The channel ceased operations on December 31, 2007 on digital cable providers. However, Dish Network kept an automated loop of the network on the air on channel 177 for fifteen months until April 23, 2009, when it was replaced with the west coast feed of Cartoon Network.

Other Nickelodeon channels

• Nickelodeon HD is the on-air name for a feed provided by Nickelodeon to broadcast a limited schedule of programming in 1080i high definition, which is carried by most of the major American cable providers on a simulcast schedule that programs based on a Eastern/Central and a Pacific/Mountain schedule.
• Nick 2 is the on-air name for a feed provided by Nickelodeon to digital cable and satellite providers that features either the Pacific/Mountain or Eastern/Central feed of the channel, depending on geographical location and giving viewers a second chance to watch programming three hours after or three hours before the original airing. As such, Nickelodeon is the only basic cable channel to offer East/West feeds simultaneously over digital cable systems, the usage of both East and West Coast feeds of the same cable channel is common practice by certain basic cable channels carried on satellite providers and especially for premium channels. A Nick TOO logo was used on the channel until 2004, and the respective Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite logos have been used on the channel since. Nickelodeon's East and West Coast feeds are both available on DirecTV, Dish Network and other satellite providers, though using the Nickelodeon name only for both channels.

Ratings

For 2009, Nickelodeon finished in first place among all basic cable networks in total day for the 15th straight year among total viewers (ages 2+) and all kid demos, according to Nielsen Media Research. The fourth quarter of 2009 marked Nickelodeon's 59th consecutive quarter at #1, averaging 2.2 million total viewers and 3.5/1.2 million Kids 2-11 and 3.1/664,000 Kids 6-11 in 2009.

Nickelodeon also had three of the top five rated shows with Kids 2-11: SpongeBob SquarePants (#1); The Penguins of Madagascar (#3); and Fanboy and Chum Chum (#5). iCarly ranked as broadcast and basic cable's top-rated series for kids 2-11, and as basic cable's #1 children's program among total viewers, with SpongeBob SquarePants ranking as TV's #1 animated show among kids 2-11, and cable's top animated kids' show with total viewers.

The channel also ranked #1 among preschoolers, averaging a 4.0/551,000 K2-5 in total day ratings, with four out of the top five preschool series for kids 2-5: Go, Diego, Go! (#1); Max and Ruby (#2); Dora the Explorer (#4); The Backyardigans (#5) and Blue's Clues (#6).

Media

See also: Nickelodeon Toys and Nick Rewind

Nick.com

Main article: Nick.com

Nick.com is Nickelodeon's main online portal.

Nickelodeon Movies

Main article: Nickelodeon Movies

Nickelodeon Movies is the channel's motion picture production arm founded in 1995. It has produced films based on Nickelodeon programs, as well as other adaptations and original projects. Its films are released by Paramount Pictures. Nickelodeon Movies initially did not introduce a new logo when the Nickelodeon's new logo came into effect as part of its September 2009 rebrand; Nickelodeon Movies eventually instituted a new logo on January 1, 2009.

Nick Magazine

Main article: Nick Magazine

Nick Magazine was a magazine launched by Nickelodeon in 1993, following a short-lived effort from 1990. It contained informative non-fiction pieces, humor, interviews, pranks, recipes (such as green slime cake), and a comic book section in the center featuring original comics by leading underground cartoonists as well as strips about popular Nicktoons.

In July 2009, Nickelodeon, in response to a hard-hit magazine industry, announced it would shut Nick Magazine down after 16 years. The final issue was published in December 2009.

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards

Main article: Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards is an annual awards show that airs on a Saturday night in late March or early April (since 2007, the show has been held on the last Saturday in March), and airs live and is usually held and telecast live (though with a three-hour time delay for those watching in the Pacific Time Zone or on the Nick 2 feed on digital cable that simulcasts the Pacific time zone feed), which honors the year's biggest television, movie, and music acts, as voted by Nickelodeon's target audience. Winners receive a hollow orange blimp figurine, a logo outline for much of the network's 1984-2009 "splat logo" era.

The show features numerous celebrity guests and about two musical acts. In recent years, slime stunts have been incorporated into the show. The KCA's also host live entertainment. It has also been known to overwhelmingly cover people with the network's trademark green slime. Will Smith has won the most KCA awards. Rosie O'Donnell has hosted the most KCA awards.

Experiences

Nickelodeon Universe

Main article: Nickelodeon Universe

Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America is the largest in-door theme park in America. On August 18, 2009, Nickelodeon and Southern Star Amusement announced that the second Nickelodeon Universe will be located in New Orleans, Louisiana and have a tentative opening date by the end of 2010. It was set to be the first outdoor Nickelodeon Universe theme park, but on November 9, 2009, Nickelodeon announced that it had ended the licensing agreement with Southern Star Amusements.

Nicktoons Animation Studios

Main article: Nicktoons Studios

Nicktoons Animation Studios (formerly Games Animation) is the home of Nicktoons located in Burbank, California; it houses production of many current Nicktoons.

Hotels

• Nickelodeon Suites Resort is a Nickelodeon-themed hotel in Orlando, Florida, located near Universal Studios Resort and one mile (1.6 km) from Walt Disney World Resort. The property includes one, two, and three-bedroom Nick-themed kid suites and various forms of Nick-themed entertainment. Nickelodeon Suites Resort also contains a Nick at Nite suite for adults.
• Nickelodeon Resorts by Marriott is an upcoming hotel chain similar to the above Family Suites, featuring a 110,000-square-foot (10,000 m²) waterpark area and 650 hotel rooms. The first of the 20 planned hotels will open in San Diego, California in 2010.

Cruise

Nickelodeon Cruise is a series of Nickelodeon-themed cruise packages in partnership with Royal Caribbean International. These cruises will feature special amenities and entertainment themed to various Nickelodeon properties.

Theme park areas

Almost all theme park areas themed to Nickelodeon are now closed.

• Nickelodeon Universe was also an area inside of Kings Island featuring Nickelodeon-themed rides and attractions. The area was one of the largest areas in the park, and has been voted "Best Kid's Area" by Amusement Today magazine from 2001 to the area's closure in 2009.
• Nickland is an area inside of Movie Park Germany featuring Nickelodeon-themed rides, including a SpongeBob SquarePants-themed "Splash Battle" ride, and a Jimmy Neutron-themed roller coaster. This area is currently being expanded to fill space formerly occupied with rides based on Warner Bros. characters.

File:Nickelodeon-Rajchel.JPG

Nickelodeon Studios as viewed from the Hard Rock Cafe in March 2004 before they moved.

• Nickelodeon Studios was an attraction at Universal Orlando Resort that opened on June 7, 1990, and housed production for many Nickelodeon programs. It closed on April 30, 2005, after Nickelodeon's facilities were moved to New York City and Burbank, California. Nick Studios was replaced by the Blue Man Group Sharp Aquos Theatre.

• Nickelodeon Central was an area inside of California's Great America, Carowinds, Kings Dominion, Canada's Wonderland, and Dreamworld that featured shows, attractions, and themes featuring the Nickelodeon characters. The only remaining Nickelodeon Central is in Dreamworld, located in Australia.
• Nickelodeon Blast Zone was an area in Universal Studios Hollywood that featured attractions centered around Nickelodeon characters and themes. The four attractions that were present in the area were "Nickelodeon Splash", a waterpark-style area, 'The Wild Thornberrys Adventure Temple', a jungle-themed foam ball play area, and "Nick Jr. Backyard", a medium-sized toddler playground. This area closed in winter 2007 and has been rethemed to Curious George. Another attraction, "Rugrats Magic Adventure", was present at the opening of the area in 2001, but closed in 2002 to make way for Shrek 4-D.
• Nickelodeon Splat City was an area inside of California's Great America (1995–2002), Kings Island (1995–2000), and Kings Dominion (1995–1999), that featured attraction involving getting messy or wet. The slime refinery theme was carried out in the attractions such as the "Green Slime Zone Refinery", the "Crystal Slime Mining Maze", and the "Green Slime Transfer Truck". All of these areas were later transformed into either Nickelodeon Central or Nickelodeon Universe.

International

File:Picnickelodeon.jpg

An attempt at the Guinness record for the world's largest picnic, sponsored by Nickelodeon in Petah Tikva, Israel.

In 1995, Nickelodeon only had international channels in the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany in addition to the flagship American channel, but had created blocks or put their shows on other blocks in 70 countries. Since the mid-1990s and early 2000s, Nickelodeon as a brand has expanded into include language- or culture-specific Nickelodeon channels for various other territories in different parts of the world including Europe, the Middle-East, Russia, Asia, and recently Canada, and has licensed some of its cartoons and other content, in English and local languages, to TV and cable stations such as KI.KA and Super RTL in Germany, RTÉ Two (English speaking) and TG4 (Irish speaking) in Ireland, YTV (in English) and VRAK.TV (in French) in Canada, Canal J in France, Alpha Kids in Greece and CNBC-e in Turkey.

In addition to the flagship United States channel and the original international versions in the UK, Australia and Germany, as of early-March 2010, the channel also broadcasts in South East Asia, New Zealand, Scandinavia, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Cyprus, India, Italy, Israel, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, Hungary, France, Russia, Canada, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Africa, Brazil and Latin America. A Japanese version of the channel had existed as well, but was shut down in 2009.

On October 11, 2006, Viacom's subsidiary MTV Networks Asia Pacific set up a new unit to manage Nickelodeon South East Asia TV based in Singapore. Nickelodeon was launched in Singapore and expanded its services in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Polynesia. In the present, Nickelodeon Philippines and Nickelodeon India started working independently. They started their new website, Nicksplat.com in 2003.

In India, Nickelodeon is available on the One Alliance bouquet, through the Dish TV and Tata Sky DTH services. In the Philippines, it is available on SkyCable Gold, Silver and Platinum channel 45, Sun Cable channel 34 and Global Destiny Cable channel 52. In Hong Kong, it is available on now TV, while in Malaysia, it is available over Astro via Channel 612. In Singapore, it is available over StarHub TV and in Indonesia, Nickelodeon is available on Astro Nusantara channel 14, Global TV, a free-to-air television channel, and is also broadcast on Indovision channel 33.

A pan-Arabia version of Nickelodeon has been relaunched in 2008, in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. From 1996 to 2002, It used to be on the Showtime Arabia and Orbit satellite services, until they were removed. The Polish version of Nickelodeon has launched on July 10, 2008 in Platform N.

In September 2009, Corus Entertainment, owners of YTV and Treehouse TV, announced that they would launch Nickelodeon Canada on November 2. Before that and since then, YTV has served as a de facto outlet for Nickelodeon's programming in Canada, and also brands a Sunday morning block called Nickelodeon Sundays.

See also

• Nicktoons
• Nicktoons (TV channel)
• Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids
• Noggin
• The N
• Nick@Nite
• YTV
• Nick Jr.
• SNICK
• TeenNick
• TV Land
• Nickelodeon Suites Resort

External links

• Nickelodeon United States Template:En icon

• Nickelodeon Arabia Template:En icon
• Nickelodeon Australia Template:En icon
• Nickelodeon Austria Template:De icon
• Nickelodeon Belgium Template:Fr icon, Template:Nl icon
• Nickelodeon Brazil Template:Pt icon
• Nickelodeon Canada Template:En icon
• Nickelodeon China Template:Zh icon
• Nickelodeon Czech Republic Template:Cs icon
• Nickelodeon Denmark Template:Da icon
• Nickelodeon Finland Template:Fi icon
• Nickelodeon France Template:Fr icon
• Nickelodeon Germany Template:De icon
• Nickelodeon Hong Kong Template:En icon, Template:Zh icon
• Nickelodeon Hungary Template:Hu icon
• Nickelodeon India Template:En icon
• Nickelodeon Ireland Template:En icon
• Nickelodeon Israel Template:He icon
• Nickelodeon Italy Template:It icon
• Nickelodeon Japan Template:Ja icon
• Nickelodeon Korea Template:Ko icon
• Nickelodeon Latin America Template:Es icon
• Nickelodeon Netherlands Template:Nl icon
• Nickelodeon New Zealand Template:En icon
• Nickelodeon Norway Template:No icon
• Nickelodeon Pakistan Template:En icon
• Nickelodeon Poland Template:Pl icon
• Nickelodeon Portugal Template:Pt icon
• Nickelodeon Romania Template:Ro icon
• Nickelodeon Russia Template:Ru icon
• Nickelodeon Singapore Template:En icon
• Nickelodeon South Africa Template:En icon
• Nickelodeon Spain Template:Es icon
• Nickelodeon Sweden Template:Sv icon
• Nickelodeon Switzerland Template:De icon
• Nickelodeon Taiwan Template:Zh icon
• Nickelodeon Turkey Template:Tr icon
• Nickelodeon United Kingdom Template:En icon