Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon

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

Nickelodeon (previously known as Pinwheel from 1977 until 1981) is an American cable television channel owned by Viacom. Since the early-1990s and early 2000s, Nickelodeon as a brand has expanded into other territories including Europe, the Middle-East, Russia and Asia. Nickelodeon has been available in Canada since November 2, 2009.

It is often referred to by its shortened name, Nick, a practice that dates back to the early days of the channel. As of 2009, Nick currently has three blocks: Nick at Nite, Nick's Play Date, and the Hollywood Hang. Since 2006, Nickelodeon has been run by MTVN Kids & Family Group president Cyma Zarghami. The channel is aimed mostly at children ages 3–12, with the exception of their prime time block that is aimed at children ages 12–18.

History

Pinwheel (1977–1981)

File:Pinwheellogo1.gif

The Pinwheel logo.

Nickelodeon was originally launched as Pinwheel on December 1, 1977 and was a channel on Warner Cable's QUBE system in Columbus, Ohio. Running for only 6 hours a day, shows included Video Comicbook, Pop Clips and Pinwheel (TV series). Pinwheel went national on April 1, 1979, expanding to Buffalo, New York, thus Nickelodeon has declared that 1979 is the network's official launch year. During its broadcast day, it would air shows such as the long running Pinwheel along with other TV shows such as Video Comic Book, America Goes Bananaz, Nickel Flicks and By the Way. In 1980, Geraldine Laybourne joined Nickelodeon's production team. She would become President of Nickelodeon in 1983.

Relaunch as Nickelodeon (1981–1990)

Pinwheel was relaunched as Nickelodeon: the First Network for Kids on April 1, 1981. It extended its hours from 8am (EST) to 8pm (EST) by turning its channel over to the Alpha Repertory Television Service (ARTS) and, later for about a year, A&E Network. At one point the channel just went to a test screen after a sign-off. Its original logo was a silver pinball with Nickelodeon title in front 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 1981.

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 station 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.

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The Nickelodeon original logo used from 1984 to 2004

The channel struggled at first, having lost $40 million by 1984 and finishing dead last among cable channels. After firing the 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 to replace the "Pinball" logo with the "orange splat" logo with the name Nickelodeon written in Bazooka 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 25 years. In 1985, after ARTS dropped its partnership with Nickelodeon, Nick added a late-night new block called Nick at Nite. 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.

Success in the 1990s and Early 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, in Orlando, Florida at Universal Studios Florida and entered into a multimillion-dollar joint marketing agreement with international restaurant chain Pizza Hut, which involved licking Nickelodeon Magazine, which was available for free at participating McDonalds 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 4th 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, but Rocko's Modern Life, The Ren and Stimpy Show, and Rugrats 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, was still airing. The show got very popular in 1998, when 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.

In June 1993, Nickelodeon resumed its magazine brand, Nickelodeon Magazine. Nickelodeon Magazine will cease production in 2009 with the December issue being the last. In 1993, Nickelodeon removed sketch comedy You Can't Do That on Television from its schedule after twelve years on and by the next year the network had launched a new sketch comedy, 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. In 1994, Nickelodeon also launched The Big Help, 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).

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Nickelodeon's splat version logo used from 2004 to 2009. The logo became more circular.

In October 1995, Nickelodeon ventured in the 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 aired a Spongebob "Best Day Ever" marathon in 2006 which ran for 24 hours. Nickelodeon had announced in May 2009 that Nick Magazine would be discontinued that year and also announced in February 2009 that Noggin and The N were to be rebranded as Nick Jr. and TeenNick.

Rebranding and the future (2009–present)

In July 2009, Nickelodeon debuted 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. The new logo will debut in the UK in late February-early March 2010.

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 December 28, 2009 nick will be airing new epiodes of a show call My Family got guts.

Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by Nickelodeon

Nicktoons

Main article: Nicktoons

Programming blocks

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

Nick at Nite

Main article: Nick at Nite

The programming block that started in 1985 broadcasts over Nickelodeon on Sundays through Thursdays from 8 PM - 7 AM, Fridays from 9 PM - 7 AM and Saturdays from 10 PM - 7 AM ET/PT. Originally featuring classic sitcoms such as Mr. Ed and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, programming changed to repeats of popular sitcoms from the 1980s and 1990s such as The Cosby Show, Full House, Home Improvement, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Roseanne, Family Matters. They are currently showing on this channel George Lopez, 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 1950's through today.

Hollywood Hang

This programming block started in 2009 broadcasts over Nickelodeon every weekday from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM. The block features behind the scenes with stars from Nickelodeon's live action shows, a special poll that viewers can vote on Nick.com, and Nick stars doing dares posted online from viewers. The block is hosted by Lily Collins. It is also a replacement for TEENick.

Nick Play Date

Main article: Play Date (block)

The successor-of-sorts to the Nick Jr. block since spring of 2009, the Nick Play Date runs from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on weekdays; on holidays and during the summer (from Memorial Day through Labor Day), the block airs in the morning from 7 a.m. until either 9 a.m. or 10 a.m.. Its programming is generally targeted at preschool-age children, since the station's usual target audience is mostly in school at the time. The preschool block has been in place on Nickelodeon since at least 1988 under the "Nick Jr." brand, but this branding was transferred to the former Noggin channel on September 28, 2009. Much of the Nick Play Date's programming, though not all, overlaps with the Nick Jr. channel, and there is frequent cross-promotion between the two entities. Programming seen on the Nick Play Date includes The Fresh Beat Band, The Backyardigans, Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, Max and Ruby, and Ni Hao, Kai-lan.

Sister channels

Current channels

Nicktoons

Main article: Nicktoons (TV channel)

This digital cable/satellite cvhannel once known as Nicktoons TV and Nicktoons Network airs classic Nicktoons very late and very early but also new Nicktoons all day that originated on their own channel.

Nick Jr.

Main article: Nick Jr. (TV channel)

This United States-based television channel aimed at preschool aged children, has only programming promotions in lieu of commercials and is usually carried on a digital cable tier and the basic tiers of satellite providers. Based on the former Noggin, the network was rebranded Nick Jr. as of September 28, 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 portion of each day with Noggin as The N, but on December 31, 2007 it took over Nickelodeon GAS's positions as a stand-alone channel. The network was rebranded as TeenNick (with actor Nick Cannon as its' "chairman") on September 28, 2009.

TV Land

Main article: TV Land

A cable channel that was created based on the Nick at Nite block, it airs classic programming from as far back as the early 1950s.

Former channels

Nick GAS

Main article: Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids

Nickelodeon GAS, (or Nick GAS; full name Nickelodeon Games And Sports for Kids), was a U.S. satellite television channel that was launched on March 1, 1999 as part of MTV Networks' suite of digital cable channels. Olympic swimmer and Figure It Out host Summer Sanders was named the Commissioner of Nick GAS. Dave Aizer and Vivianne Collins were the channel's original on-air hosts, with Mati Moralejo joining soon after. Nick GAS ended their run on digital cable on December 31, 2007. On this date, another Nickelodeon-based channel, The N, took the channel's position. An automated loop of GAS programming remained on Dish Network until April 23, 2009 due to channel bandwidth concerns that kept The N on a split-channel with Noggin on Dish. After a channel shift that day, the channel ended quietly on Dish Network. Cartoon Network's west coast feed replaced Nick GAS on that channel.

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. Previously a Nick TWO logo was used on the channels until 2004 (the channel was also called Nick TOO); the regular Nickelodeon logo has been used since then. Most program listings display the channel as either Nickelodeon Pacific/NICK-P, Nickelodeon Eastern/NICK-E, or NICK 2.

Media

See also: Nickelodeon Toys and Nick Rewind

Nick.com

Main article: Nick.com

Nick.com is Nickelodeon's main online portal. It houses Nicktropolis and TurboNick (2005-2009).

Nickelodeon Magazine

Main article: Nickelodeon Magazine

Nickelodeon Magazine was launched by Nickelodeon in 1993, following a short-lived effort from 1990. It contains 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 June 2009, Nickelodeon, in response to a hard-hit magazine industry, closed the doors to Nickelodeon Magazine after 16 successful years.

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 has not made a new logo when the Nickelodeon new logo came into effect. Nickelodeon plans to get one in early 2010.

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 9th, 2009, Nickelodeon announced that it had ended the licensing agreement with Southern Star Amusements.

Nicktoons Studios

Main article: Nicktoons Studios

"Nicktoons 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.

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

• 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 all of Nickelodeon's production had re-located to Burbank, California. The Slime Geyser was removed from the front of the facility in May 2005, the trademark Nickelodeon sign was removed in January 2006, and the Nickelodeon Time Capsule was removed prematurely in August 2006. The building was then converted into the Sharp Aquos Theatre, a venue for the Blue Man Group, which opened on June 7, 2007. The Time Capsule is now located at the Nick Hotel.
• 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.
• 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 Universe was 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.
• 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 eiher 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.

It also operates language- or culture-specific Nickelodeon channels for various markets in different parts of the world, 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 (English) and VRAK.TV (French) in Canada, Canal J in France, Alpha Kids in Greece and CNBC-e in Turkey.

As of August 2007, the channel also broadcasts in South East Asia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Scandinavia, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Cyprus, India, Italy, Israel, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, Hungary, France, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Africa, and Latin America.

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 42. 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 (now relaunched), in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. From the late-1990s until the mid-2000s, It used to be on the Showtime Arabia and Orbit satellite services, until they were removed.

In September 2009, Corus Entertainment, owners of YTV and Treehouse TV, announced that they would launch Nickelodeon Canada on November 2.

The Polish version of Nickelodeon has launched on July 10, 2008 in Platform N.

See also

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

External links

Official sites

Channels

• Nickelodeon United States

• Nickelodeon Arabia
• Nike shoes
• Nickelodeon Australia
• Nickelodeon Brazil Template:Pt icon
• Nickelodeon Canada
• Nickelodeon China
• Nickelodeon France Template:Fr icon
• Nickelodeon Germany Template:De icon
• Nickelodeon India
• Nickelodeon Italy Template:It icon
• Nickelodeon Israel Template:He icon
• Nickelodeon Japan Template:Ja icon
• Nickelodeon Korea Template:Ko icon
• Nickelodeon in Latin America Template:Es icon
• Nickelodeon Netherlands Template:Nl icon
• Nickelodeon New Zealand
• Nickelodeon Pakistan
• Nickelodeon Poland Template:Pl icon
• Nickelodeon Portugal Template:Pt icon
• Nickelodeon Scandinavia Template:Sv icon
• Nickelodeon Spain Template:Es icon
• Nickelodeon Turkey Template:Tr icon
• mbt shoes

Other

• Nicktropolis
• Nick Jr.
• Nicktoons
• Nickelodeon Family Suites
• Official cruise line website
• [1]

Other sites

• Nickelodeon, an external wiki