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Nickelodeon (British and Irish TV channel)

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For Nickelodeon in United States, see Nickelodeon (TV channel).
Nickelodeon
Ownership
OwnerNickelodeon UK (Viacom/BSkyB)

Nickelodeon (Nick for short) is a cable and satellite TV network primarily for children and pre-teens. The British version, legally known as Nickelodeon UK, was launched in September 1 1993. Although one of the oldest children's stations in the United Kingdom, it was not the first (the oldest, The Children's Channel, which started in 1984, is now defunct).

History

File:Nicktext.gif
Screenshot of NickText

Launched on September 1 1993, encrypted as part of British Sky Broadcastings Sky Multichannels package and airing (initially) from 6am to 7pm each day, Nickelodeon shows both cartoons and live action series aimed primarily at children. The channel originally had a transponder to itself on the Astra satellite, and whilst off-air would show testcards (which usually had schedule information) or pages from NickText, the channel's teletext service. On cable, it was up to the operator which channel it would timeshare with, which caused problems whenever Nickelodeon extended its hours. The channel timeshared with the Paramount Channel (later Paramount Comedy Channel, now Paramount Comedy 1) after its launch in 1995. The channels are separate on the digital satellite and digital cable platforms, though still share on some analogue cable services.

There were no live presenters from the channel's launch, but eventually Nick Alive! was introduced, which featured live links between shows, often consisting of just a single presenter and the invitation for viewers to take part in phone-ins. With time, these live links were moved to bigger studios, where children were now invited down to the studios to take part in the live broadcasts, which were given various names over the years.

When Sky Digital launched in 1998, Nickelodeon was in the original channel line-up, and the channel's closedown was moved from 7pm to 10pm for digital satellite viewers. It continues to timeshare on analogue. Nickelodeon was also in the ITV Digital lineup, until the service closed down in 2002.

In 2004 Nickelodeon launched a separate stream for viewers in the Republic of Ireland. As with Sky One & MTV, the only difference is the advertisements; all programming is the same. The Irish stream is also broadcast from the UK, however, and is supplied to all Irish cable operators and to Irish subscribers of Sky Digital. Programmes range from SpongeBob SquarePants, Avatar, Drake & Josh as well as Dora the explorer and Lazytown.

Ownership

The British Nickelodeon channels are operated by Nickelodeon UK Ltd., a private unlimited company that is a 50/50 joint venture between British Sky Broadcasting and Viacom, the ultimate owners of the Nickelodeon branded channels in the USA. Unlike in America, there is little (if any) operational connection to the British and European MTV channels, which are run by MTV Networks Europe.

From 1995, there was an operational connection to the The Paramount Channel, which was launched by the Paramount UK Partnership, another joint venture between British Sky Broadcasting (25%) and Viacom (75%). The channels shared transponder space as well as offices, though they now they have separate offices and each operate multiple channels that no longer share bandwidth.

Other channels

On September 1 1999, two channels were launched on Sky Digital: Nick Jr., which shows programming aimed at pre-school children, and Nick Replay, a timeshift service broadcasting the main Nickelodeon channel on a one-hour delay. Pre-school programming was previously shown during the daytime on the main channel, but this strand has long since been dropped (though it was reintroduced briefly during 2005).

On July 22 2002, Nicktoons TV, now simply Nicktoons, was launched. This shows Nicktoons, as well as other cartoons, all day.

On October 31 2005, Nickelodeon and Nicktoons extended their hours to 5am-11pm, and Nick Replay extended its hours to 6am-12am. Teleshopping began broadcasting on these channels outside of regular transmission times, as well as on Nick Jr. Prior to this, these channels had shown a test card, logo slide or promo loop during the off-air hours. Nick Jr. originally timeshared with MTV Dance when that channel launched in early 2001, though this ceased some time ago, with MTV Dance having gone 24 hours since then.

On April 24 2006, Nick Jr. 2 was launched. It broadcasts Nick Jr. shows on a different schedule to the main Nick Jr. channel.

Nickelodeon Presenters

Many presenters have come and gone over the years on Nickelodeon, including:

Current presenters:

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards

  • The 2007 US Awards show was aired on Nick UK on 14 April 2007. The KCA's usually air in the UK shortly after they are broadcast in the US.
  • For the first time Nick UK is to make their version of the KCA's, later this year. Your UK KCA Nominees can be voted for now (as of 11 may 2007) online at Nick.co.uk [1].
  • The awards will be on the 20th October 2007 and will start around 5:00 PM GMT. The only way you can currently get tickets is by winning them. You can win them by voting for your favourite nominees
  • Recently Nickelodeon did a competition where four lucky winners would be able to carry a 'blimp' (the Nickelodeon award) up on stage and present it to a winning celebrity
  • The famous band 'McFly' will be presenting the KCA UK

Nickelodeon Programmes

Main article: List of programmes broadcast by Nickelodeon UK

Nickelodeon Movies

  • The channel doesn't air movies daily during the school period, unlike its rival kids' channel Disney Channel UK, which does. In the kids' school holidays Nickelodeon normally airs movies with the slot being branded NickFlicks.

Programming Blocks

Programming on Nickelodeon UK has often been segmented into blocks. These have included:

  • Morning blocks
    • Rise and Slime - (?)
    • Dawn Patrol - (?)
    • Get Up! - weekends (?)
    • Bedroom Bedlam - weekends (?)
    • Nick AM - (?, existed 1996[2])
    • Nicktoons Breakfast Feast - (?)
    • Nicktoons TV - (?)
    • Nick Jr. - weekday mornings, featured programming for pre-school children, replaced by a dedicated Nick Jr. channel (?-1999, 2005)
    • Nick Juice - weekday mornings, 7am to 9am (?-2002)
    • Weekend Juice - weekend mornings, 7am/9am to 12pm/2pm (?-2002)
    • SLAM! - weekend mornings, 7am to 9am, featured animated action series (2002-2004)
    • You're Nicked - weekday mornings, 7am to 9am, featured a presenter & crew 'invading' a viewer's home before school (2002-2004, latterly became a programme in its own right)
    • The Crunch - aired weekday mornings, 7am to 9am (January 2005 until 2006) Each day had a different set of children, who signed up to be on the show, studio games, animated shows / live action series.
    • Control Freaks (2005) Children competed in a series of challenges live on air, with the two presenters. Included cartoons such as SpongeBob SquarePants.
    • The Crunch - Summer Sizzle - (Summer of 2005)
    • ME:TV (2006) LIVE studio presentation, and four kids with their webcams helped to introduce shows, by completing challenges live on air. This show airs occasionally on school holidays. This show was a big success and has had many series, it was so good that the US version of Nick picked up the show.
    • Slime Across the UK and Ireland weekday mornings, 11am to 1pm, ran in the summer holidays, 2-5th week, presented by Mark Felgate and Laura Hamilton. Tour of the UK and Ireland, with slime involved! (2007)
  • Afternoon blocks
    • Lunchtoons - daily, 12pm to 2pm, featured animated series (?-2002)
    • Nickelozone - weekends, 2pm to 7pm, featured double episodes of mainly live-action shows (1999-2002)
    • Nick in the Afternoon - (?)
    • Nick PM - (?)
    • Nick NOW - (?)
    • Nick L8R - weekdays, 3:30-5pm to 7pm, featured live studio presentation (2000-2004)
    • Thank Nick It's Friday - Fridays, 3:30pm/4pm to 7pm, featured live studio presentation (2000-2004)
    • The 4 til 6 Show - presented by two of the 'Big Nick Pick' presenters Claire & Teresa, in a tiny studio, they introduced shows, however this only lasted one week in the children's half term holidays. The two presenters have never been seen on Nickelodeon since, unlike the other 'Big Nick Pick' presenters (2005)
    • The Crunch! - had a short period in the afternoons. Details above, in Morning Blocks (2006)
    • NickHeads - first series aired for a short period in the 4-6pm slot, presented by Mark Felgate and Laura Hamilton (2006). The secound series returned on June 4, at 4-6pm, with Mark and Laura 'back with popular demand' with the run finishing on June 22 (2007).
  • Evening blocks
    • NickALive - (?)
    • SNICK - weekend evenings, 7pm to 10pm (?-2002)
  • Taking a Break
    • In 2004, Nickelodeon cancelled all live presentation. With them saying the programmes are taking a break. All current presenters at that time were axed. With other kids' stations such as Disney Channel, CiTV and later CBBC, following suit. Mainly as a cost-cutting excersize. Later in January 2005, Nickelodeon brought back 'live' programming, but not as much in the past. Currently to today, their is no live presentation apart from in the summer where there was a live Nickelodeon event names 'Slime Across The UK' this involved Nickeliodeon presenters travelling across the UK 'sliming' people.

The current presenters will be involved for the Kids Choice Awards UK 2007.

Nickelodeon Specials

Over the years Nick have had many special programmes.

Nickelodeon: Outta Control

Main article: Nickelodeon: Outta Control

In 1997, Alton Towers opened an attraction in conjunction with Nickelodeon. There were several rooms, each with its own theme. Upon leaving, you were played back a recording of your journey around the attraction. It closed in 1998, possibly due to low visitor numbers[4].

See also

The New Nickelodeon Online Store launching soon!!!

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