Nickelodeon (TV channel)
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| Nickelodeon | |
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| Launched | April 1, 1979 |
| Owned by | MTV Networks (Viacom) |
| Formerly called | Pinwheel (until 1981) |
| Sister channel(s) | Nick at Nite TV Land Nick 2 Nick GAS MTV VH1 Nicktoons Network Noggin/The N |
| Website | Official Site |
Nickelodeon (Nick for short, formerly called Pinwheel; launched April 1, 1979) is a cable TV network primarily for children and pre-teens, but also features shows aimed toward teenagers in TEENick. The first Nickelodeon channel was American, but there are now several channels in different parts of the world such as South East Asia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Scandinavia, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Cyprus, Italy, Pakistan, Turkey, Hungary, France, Russia, Africa and Latin America. It is also a rival of Disney Channel and Cartoon Network.
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[edit] History
Nickelodeon has produced and aired many programs. The channel became known for its iconic green slime, originally used on the Canadian comedy show You Can't Do That on Television, which aired on Nickelodeon during the 1980's. It was then adopted by the station as a primary feature of many of its shows, a few gone off the channel. Many adults know the service best for its Nick at Nite offerings of classic TV sitcoms in the prime-time and overnight hours.
[edit] Nicktoons
Nickelodeon began producing shows called Nicktoons on August 11, 1991, beginning with Doug. At the same time, Rugrats and Ren & Stimpy debuted. These shows were generally popular, but Ren & Stimpy was canceled in 1996; Rugrats continued airing due to increased ratings. Later, shows like Rocko's Modern Life, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Hey Arnold!, The Angry Beavers, and SpongeBob SquarePants were created and ended up being extremely popular, but like before, were canceled after several years, with the exception of SpongeBob SquarePants.
On May 1, 1999, Nickelodeon introduced their most popular original show to date, SpongeBob SquarePants. The animated show would be embraced by both young and old alike worldwide, sell billions of dollars in merchandise, and become a pop culture icon. Nicktoons with similar appeal such as The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius would soon follow. Invader ZIM was officially canceled two years after its premiere, but has gained a massive cult following. The Fairly OddParents (originally aired on Oh Yeah! Cartoons), however, has become one of the channel's most popular shows.
[edit] Nickelodeon's Kids Pick the President (1988-present)
Since 1988, Nickelodeon has run a mock Presidential election during every Presidential election where viewers call in to vote for their favorite Presidential candidate. In every election except 2004 the person who won the mock election became president.
[edit] Nick at Nite
The Nick at Nite programming block began in July 1985 on Nickelodeon from prime time to early morning; originally the channel went dark after 8pm Eastern, although many cable operators substituted other channels at night, such as A&E (which shared a satellite transponder with Nickelodeon prior to 1985) or C-SPAN. The early lineups featured such black and white classics as The Donna Reed Show, Mr. Ed, My Three Sons, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Route 66, as well as Mad Movies with the LA Connection and Nickelodeon's Turkey Television on weekends. More recent programming included various sitcoms from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s such as The Cosby Show, Roseanne, Full House, A Different World, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and Growing Pains. Nick at Nite has also produced original programming such as Fatherhood (an animated show based on the book by Bill Cosby), Search for the Funniest Mom in America, and Hi-Jinks (a Punk'd-like series where parents play practical jokes on their children). This block is known as Nick Comedy on Nickelodeon Germany. In the mid-to-late-1990s, shows like I Love Lucy, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Brady Bunch, and other shows that are now on TV Land were aired on Nick at Nite. Generally speaking, Nick at Nite's programming has moved forward with the times, while still broadcasting shows at least ten to twenty years old.
Nick-at-Nite was conceived and developed as the first 'oldies' television network by long time MTV Networks consultants Fred/Alan Inc. (Fred Seibert and Alan Goodman), who, in late 1984, had been responsible for boosting Nickelodeon from the lowest basic cable network in America to its number one status in six months.
[edit] Nick Jr.
By the late-1980s, programming in the late morning to early afternoon of Nickelodeon's weekday schedule tended to be aimed at a younger audience. In 1988, this programming block was formalized, and named Nick Jr.. Over the years, this programming block has featured Pinwheel, David the Gnome, Blue's Clues, and Dora the Explorer. Nick Jr. is still programmed today on Nickelodeon.
[edit] Other Nickelodeon channels
In 1996, Nick at Nite spun off the channel TV Land, which currently airs a variety of older shows, primarily sitcoms from 1951 to 1992.
Nickelodeon has spun off other cable networks: Nick 2 (Nick on a three hour delay -- its west coast feed repackaged for east coast viewers, although now the plain west coast feed is used), Nickelodeon Games and Sports (Nickelodeon GAS), Nicktoons Network, and Noggin/The N (originally a joint venture with the Children's Television Workshop). It also operates language- or culture-specific Nickelodeon channels for various markets in different parts of the world, and has licensed translated versions of some of its cartoons and other content to TV and cable stations such as Kinderkanal and Super RTL of Germany,TG4 of Ireland YTV of Canada, Canal J of France, Alpha Kids of Greece and CNBC-e of Turkey.
[edit] International Networks
Outside of the U.S., Nickelodeon appears in Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Israel, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malta, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, Uruguay,Venezuela, and Zimbabwe. Nickelodeon launched in the UK on September 1st, 1993.The UK also has an additional channel (along with all the channels in the United States) called Nick Junior.
[edit] Southeast Asia
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.[1] 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, Dish TV And Tata Sky DTH Platforms. In the Philippines, it is available on SkyCable Gold, Silver and Platinum channel 45 and Global Destiny Cable channel 21. In Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, it is available over Now TV (HK), Starhub Cable TV (SG) and ASTRO (MY). In Indonesia, Nickelodeon is available in ASTRO channel 14 and broadcast on Global TV, free-air TV, the same channel that airs MTV Indonesia.
[edit] Other Nickelodeon projects
[edit] Nick.com
Nick.com is the official website for Nickelodeon.The website features many sections and services. In 2007, Nick.com released a program called "Nickelodeon Launch Pad" and it's Toolbar. Also in 2007, Nick.com released "Nicktropolis" an online game where a user can chat with other users, chat with Nicktoon characters, play games, create their own room and earn Nickpoints and also "purchase" products for their rooms by spending their Nickpoints.
[edit] Nickelodeon Magazine
Nickelodeon Magazine is a magazine Nickelodeon publishes. The current magazine was launched 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 big comic book section in the center that features original comics by leading underground cartoonists as well as strips about popular Nicktoons.
[edit] Nickelodeon Family Suites
Nickelodeon Family Suites is a Nickelodeon-themed Holiday Inn hotel in Orlando, Florida, located near Universal Studios Resort and two miles 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.
[edit] 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 fellow Viacom division Paramount Pictures.
[edit] Nickelodeon Studios
Nickelodeon Studios was an attraction at Universal Orlando 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.
[edit] Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Nickelodeon Animation Studios 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.
[edit] References
- ^ "MTV Networks Asia Pacific Announces A New Structure To Advance Its Localization Strategy", Viacom, 11 October 2006
[edit] See also
- List of programs broadcast by Nickelodeon
- List of movies broadcast by Nickelodeon
- Nick Rewind
- Nick Jr.
- Nickelodeon Toys
- TurboNick
- Nicktoons
- Nick At Nite
[edit] Official Sites
- Official Site
- Nickelodeon Central
- Nickelodeon Asia
- Nickelodeon Australia
- Nickelodeon Germany
- Nickelodeon Israel
- Nickelodeon in Latin America
- Nickelodeon New Zealand
- Nickelodeon Spain
- Nickelodeon France
- Nickelodeon Russia
- Nickelodeon Austria
- Nickelodeon Scandinavian
- Nickelodeon Turkey
- Nickelodeon UK
- Nicktropolis
- Nickelodeon Ukraine
- Nickelodeon at Wikia
