Nickelodeon (TV channel)

Nickelodeon (commonly referred to as Nick) is an American cable television network owned by Viacom International, founded in 1977 as Pinwheel. The Pinwheel name was used until 1981. The channel is found in many different countries, including Nick UK and Nickelodeon Australia. Nick is also split up into several blocks, such as Nick at Nite, Teenick and Nick Jr.. The channel focuses on children from ages 7 through 14. Nick at Nite is meant for adolescents and/or adults and Nick Jr. focuses on children ages 2 through 6. Teenick which targets teens, preteens ages 10-17. Since 2006, Nickelodeon has been run by MTVN Kids & Family Group president Cyma Zarghami.

History

Nickelodeon was launched in December 1, 1977 as Pinwheel channel in Columbus, Ohio alongside the QUBE cable system (now Time Warner Cable)^[1].

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.

On April 1, 1979, the channel went national [2] when they expanded to another QUBE system in Buffalo, New York. 

During the day, Nickelodeon had begun playing "filler" segments in between shows. The network's sign-on featured a pair of hands, which were in some of the fillers. Other fillers featured a male mime. Nickelodeon was mostly famous for 2 things in 1982: You Can't Do That on Television and the sign off, which involved silver circles which combined to say Nickelodeon. The channel was approved by the National Education Association.

In 1980, Geraldine Laybourne joined Nickelodeon's production team. She would become President of Nickelodeon in 1983.

On April 1, 1981, the channel had expanded nationwide as Nickelodeon, the first channel just for kids.

Nickelodeon became known for its iconic green slime, originally featured in the network's first major hit TV show, the 1980s Canadian comedy show 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 later years, other shows such as Livewire, Standby: Lights, Camera, Action, The Third Eye, Mr. Wizard's World and more were part of the regular Nickelodeon time slots.

In December of 1984, the original silver "Pinball" logo, which was used since 1981, was replaced with the current "Orange" splat logo.

Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by Nickelodeon

Nicktoons

Main article: Nicktoons

Nicktoons are animated television programs airing on Nickelodeon. Prior to 1991, Nickelodeon aired mostly foreign-based cartoons mainly coming from Canada, United Kingdom, France, Eastern Europe (mainly Russia & Poland), and Japan as well as American cartoons that were produced by other companies. Over the years, more Nicktoons were created and aired.

Programming blocks

Nick Jr.

Main article: Nick Jr.

Nick Jr. is seen on Nickelodeon weekday mornings. It is aimed at a preschool-age audience.

TEENick

Main article: TEENick

TEENick is a current programming block that began in 2002 and played on Sundays nights, eventually replacing SNICK for a Saturday block. TEENick was originally hosted by Nick Cannon and is now hosted by J Boogie

Nick at Nite

Main article: Nick at Nite

Nick at Nite is the evening programming block broadcast over Nickelodeon Sunday – Thursdays from 9 PM – 6 AM and Friday – Saturdays from 10 PM – 6 AM Eastern and Pacific Standard Time. Nick at Nite appeals to adult audiences with a lineup of classic television; largely 1990s syndicated sitcoms. Such as The Cosby Show, Full House, Home Improvement, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Roseanne and recently Family Matters and George Lopez. In 1996, Nick at Nite spun off the channel TV Land^[3] which currently airs a variety of older shows, primarily sitcoms from 1951 to 2001.

Sister channels

Nickelodeon has spun off several other cable networks.

Nickelodeon Games and Sports

Main article: Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids

Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids (commonly referred to as Nickelodeon GAS, Nick GAS or GAS), is a U.S. satellite television network which 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 network's original on-air hosts, with Mati Moralejo joining soon after. The network is now only on Dish Network.

Nick GAS has left the digital cable line-ups on December 31, 2007. On this date, another Nickelodeon-based network, The N, took GAS's channel position.

Nicktoons Network

Main article: Nicktoons Network

Nicktoons Network, once known as Nicktoons TV and simply Nicktoons, is a digital cable and satellite television network which airs classic and modern Nicktoons.

The N

Main article: The N

The N is a television channel in the United States aimed at teenagers and young adults.

Noggin

Main article: Noggin (TV channel)

Noggin is a television channel in the United States aimed at preschool-aged and early elementary-school-aged children. The network has only programming promotions in lieu of commercials and is usually carried on a digital cable tier, and the basic tiers of satellite providers.

Nick HD

Nickelodeon has started broadcasting some shows in HD. The HD feed is currently available on DIRECTV, Cablevision, Bright House Networks,Comcast, and Cox Offers Nickelodeon HD On Demand but no HD channel feed yet.

Nick Too

Nick Too is the former on-air name for a feed provided by Nickelodeon to digital cable and satellite providers which features either the Pacific/Mountain or Eastern/Central feed of the network, 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 TOO logo was used on the channels until 2004; the regular Nickelodeon logo has been used since then. Program listings display the network as either Nickelodeon Pacific/NICK-P or Nickelodeon Eastern/NICK-E.

Other Nickelodeon projects

See also: Nickelodeon Toys and Nick Rewind

Nick.com

Main article: Nick.com

Nick.com is Nickelodeon's main online portal, housing Nicktropolis and TurboNick.

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.

Nickelodeon Movies

Main article: Nickelodeon Movies

Nickelodeon Movies is the network's motion picture production arm. It has produced films based on Nickelodeon programs, as well as other adaptations and original projects. Its films are released by Paramount Pictures.

Destinations

Nicktoons Studios

Main article: Nicktoons Studios

A giant Nickelodeon balloon that was located above Nickelodeon's booth at Comic Con 2008 in San Diego, California.

Nicktoons Studios (formerly known as Games Animation) is a facility at Burbank, California. It serves as a production facility for many active Nicktoons. It also has earlier Nicktoons scattered on top of the studio at random places. It also serves as a home to the Nicktoons Network and has been used on the Nicktoons Network site replacing the Nickelodeon foot logo with the Nicktoons Network logo.

Nickelodeon Universe

Main article: Nickelodeon Universe

The Nickelodeon theme park, "Nickelodeon Universe", a rebranding of The Park at MOA in the Mall of America, opened on March 15, 2008. New attractions include an Avatar: The Last Airbender-themed half-pipe ride, a SpongeBob SquarePants-themed roller coaster, and a new Splat-O-Sphere drop tower ride.

Theme park areas

Nickelodeon Studios

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

Main article: Nickelodeon Studios

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.

Nickelodeon Central

Main article: Nickelodeon Central

Nickelodeon Central is an area inside many theme parks around The United States, Canada, and Australia. The area is filled with attractions, shows, and themes featuring the Nickelodeon characters.

Nickland

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 Universe

Nickelodeon Universe is an area inside of Kings Island featuring Nickelodeon-themed rides and attractions. The area is one of the largest areas in the park, and has been voted "Best Kid's Area" by Amusement Today magazine since 2001

Nickelodeon Blast Zone

The 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. However, though, Spongebob, Dora and the Rugrats still hang out near the shop that is still open.

Nickelodeon Splat City

Main article: Nickelodeon Splat City

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 Definery", the "Crystal Slime Mining Maze", and the "Green Slime Transfer Truck". All of these areas have been transformed into Nickelodeon Central or Nickelodeon Universe.

Hotels

Main article: Nickelodeon Family Suites

Nickelodeon Family Suites is a Nickelodeon-themed Holiday Inn 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 Family Suites 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. ^[4]

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line

Nickelodeon Family Cruises 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.^[5]

International

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) and TG4 (Irish) 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 network 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.^[6] 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 21. 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 is slated to relaunch in 2008, in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. From the late-1990s until the mid-2000s, Nickelodeon was offered on the Showtime Arabia and Orbit satellite services, until they were removed. ^[7]

In December 2007, Nickelodeon announced an unprecedented relationship with The Hertz Corporation to rent a Nickelodeon-branded media player, Nick on the Go, for traveling families that rent cars from Hertz. The unit is available at 43 US airports.

Also in 2007, Canadian cable television giant Shaw Cable had applied to the CRTC (Canada's television regulation body, similar to the United States' FCC) for permission to carry several popular American cable networks, including Turner Network Television, USA Network, HBO, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. While the CRTC denied permission to carry USA Network and the others, it did say it would review the situation and reconsider. A few weeks later, Shaw Cable had requested the CRTC remove the remaining barriers to American cable networks, and automatically approve and allow any "English language General interest networks" from the United States, including Nickelodeon and USA Network. Competitor and second-largest cable company, Rogers Cable has also expressed its agreement with Shaw Cable's propsals and supports them.

The Polish version of Nickelodeon has relaunched on July 10, 2008 (now relaunched).

See also

• Nicktoons
• Nicktoons Network
• Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids
• Noggin
• The N
• YTV

References

1. ↑ "The Rugrats Timeline: 1977". www.rugratonline.com date =. Retrieved on 2008-10-26.
2. ↑ "Nick History". www.nick.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-26.
3. ↑ "TV LAND OPENS UP ON MONDAY" (April 23, 1996). Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
4. ↑ Clabaugh, Jeff (May 31, 2007). "Marriott strikes resort deal with Nickelodeon". Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
5. ↑ Sail with SpongeBob on new Nickelodeon Family Cruise - Cruise Log - USATODAY.com
6. ↑ "MTV Networks Asia Pacific Announces A New Structure To Advance Its Localization Strategy", Viacom, 11 October 2006
7. ↑ "Nickelodeon Arabia" (2007-10-16). 

External links

• Wikia has a wiki on this subject at Nickelodeon

Official sites