TeenNick

TeenNick, formerly The N, is an American television network aimed at the teenage market. TeenNick is owned by the Nickelodeon Kids and Family subsidiary of Viacom. The channel was originally known as The N from its April 1, 2002 launch until September 28, 2009.

TeenNick's name was taken from the former "TEENick" program block on parent channel Nickelodeon, which aired from 2000 to 2009. TeenNick is primarily aimed at the 13–19 year old age demographic, and features a mix of originally-produced, Nickelodeon-produced, and syndicated programming.

The channel features a programming mix suitable for most children's viewing. Programs such as Zoey 101, Drake and Josh, Big Time Rush and Victorious (all TV-G rated shows) are targeted for middle school age children; while shows such as Degrassi (TV-PG or TV-14 rated, they vary by episode), Malcolm in the Middle (TV-PG rated), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (rated TV-14), and What I Like About You (rated TV-PG) are aimed at teens and young adults (featuring more suggestive dialogue, sexual references, violence, and explicit language).

History

As The N (2002–09)

When TeenNick originally debuted as The N on April 1, 2002, it ran from 6:00 p.m.–6:00 a.m. (Eastern)/5:00 p.m.–5:00 a.m. (Central Time). The-N shared time and channel space with Noggin, which had started as a service of Viacom and the Children's Television Workshop as a channel meant to showcase their archived programming.

The fact that The N shared channel space with Noggin (now Nick Jr.) made it very similar to parent network Nickelodeon, as it has shared channel space with another channel during the nighttime hours for most of its existence. Alpha Repertory Television Service (ARTS) shared its channel nightly from April 12, 1981 to January 31, 1984. A&E (a merger of ARTS and the then struggling NBC-owned network, The Entertainment Channel) replaced ARTS from February 1, 1984 to January 1985, at which time A&E became its own 24-hour channel. From January to June 30, 1985, Nickelodeon would broadcast a test card after it signed off for the night. Since July 1, 1985, Nickelodeon has run Nick at Nite (a nighttime program block commonly considered to be an individual channel sharing Nickelodeon's channel space) during the evening and overnight hours.

As Viacom increasingly showcased its own programming, by 2002 it was clear that they wanted Noggin to compete with longtime CTW partner, PBS Kids. CTW (by then known as Sesame Workshop), decided to reduce their interest in the network, partly due to the network's prime time ratings (with "retro programming" designed to appeal to baby boomers and young children) not being as high as expected. With this move, MTV Networks was free to launch the concept of The N. In October 2006, Viacom bought the quiz website Quizilla.^[1] It became a part of The N network.

In August 2007, MTV Networks announced the discontinuation of the sister network to The N, Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids (Nick GAS), which had by then removed their original programming and become an automated loop of just a few of Nickelodeon's lower-profile, archival game shows. MTV Networks decided to retain the satellite space and split Noggin and The N into two separate channels on December 31, 2007. The N took the place of Nick GAS.^[2] The last program to air on the timeshare version of The N was the Degrassi episode "Don't You Want Me?, Part 2". Sara Bareilles' music video for "Love Song" then closed out the last five minutes of The N on Noggin, and after one last appearance of its logo, Noggin took over the network space full-time (for the first time since 2002) with an episode of 64 Zoo Lane. Over on Nick GAS, The N reappeared and took over the channel space full-time, with the pilot episode of Instant Star, at 6:00 a.m. (Eastern)/5:00 a.m. (Central).

Relaunch as TeenNick (2009–present)

The channel relaunched as TeenNick on September 28, 2009 at 6 a.m. ET/5 a.m. CT. The channel's logo, which is part of a universal branding effort across all four Nickelodeon channels,^[3] was revealed at a launch party for the channel on June 18, 2009. Nickelodeon personality, Nick Cannon (declared in publicity materials as the Chairman of TeenNick), has a presence on the channel, along with new programming exclusive to the channel.^[4] The Noggin became Nick, Jr. at the same time.

Nearly all of the programming airing on The N was carried over to the new channel. However, most of the channel's original series (with the exception of The Best Years, Degrassi: The Next Generation^[5] and The Assistants) were not carried over to the relaunched TeenNick channel.

On February 1, 2010, TeenNick began incorporating music videos into its morning and afternoon schedule on a regular basis, with videos airing between 6 a.m.-3 p.m. ET (this had been done periodically for some time prior to that date, usually airing between 6–8 a.m. ET, although not every day). When music videos are scheduled, all programs end a few minutes earlier than usual.

Despite the name and logo re-branding, some electronic program guide (epg) providers identify TeenNick as The N and display its 2007–2009 logo as that of TeenNick. (Nick Jr. has a similar problem, as the former Noggin logo and name is still used by some epg providers to identify that channel). As of July 2011, TeenNick airs its shows in the letterbox widescreen format. It now includes a TV label at the bottom right of the screen (as the other Nickelodeon Channels do)

Programming

Most of the programming which had been on The N remained on TeenNick, with some slight changes for scheduling purposes and possible new future programming, including the re-acquisition of partial cable rights to the early 2000s sitcom, One on One (which had previously aired on The N), and a shift of Full House, which had formerly aired on Nick at Nite and began to air on the channel in August 2009, shortly before the conversion from The N to TeenNick. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, a longtime mainstay of The N, moved to Disney XD and ABC Family in September 2009 upon the expiration of Viacom's rights to the series. As of Summer 2010, it has been removed from Disney XD but remains on ABC Family. On April 20, 2011, TeenNick announced on their Facebook and blog that they would start showing Buffy the Vampire Slayer in May.^[6]

Several Nickelodeon sitcoms air on TeenNick, such as Victorious, Big Time Rush and iCarly, however they air in different time slots than on Nick (e.g. iCarly airs seven days a week on Nickelodeon, but only airs on TeenNick in an hour-long block once a week on Sunday afternoons). The majority of TeenNick's weekday afternoon and weekend daytime schedule consists of reruns of current and former Nickelodeon series. Some of Nick's older shows that have ended also air regularly during the day, such as Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, The Amanda Show, and Unfabulous. While much of TeenNick's programming consists of original series from Nickelodeon, TeenNick also produces its own original programming. Currently, two original series air on the channel, both half-hour teen dramas: "Degrassi: The Next Generation", which has aired uninterrupted by the channel since 2002, and Gigantic, which debuted in October 2010.

Today, TeenNick's schedule largely consists of Nickelodeon original programs. It has more relaxed programming standards than the rest of the Nickelodeon channels, except for Nick at Nite (whose program standards are similar to TeenNick's, and differ from Nickelodeon's, with whom Nick at Nite shares channel space). TeenNick has fewer series featuring profanity or sexual content than they did prior to the re-brand (due to the prevalence of Nickelodeon series on the schedule).

Programming blocks

The '90s Are All That

The '90s Are All That is a nightly block that airs from 12am–4am Eastern every night. The block syndicates Nickelodeon series that aired during the 1990s, and is targeted to that specific audience. The block currently features five programs during its normal schedule: All That, Kenan & Kel, Doug, Hey Arnold!, and Rugrats. The block has official Facebook and Twitter feeds, where users discuss the block or request that other series to be added to the lineup.

References

External links

• Official website

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