# Noggin (TV channel)

Noggin or sometimes known as Nick's Noggin was a 24-hour cable television network in the United States, intended to help children learn, that is now known as Nick Jr. Channel One of Nickelodeons sister channels, it concentrated on preschool programs and featured the animated characters of Moose A. Moose (a moose voiced by Paul Christie who also voiced Stick Stickly on Nick in the Afternoon) and Zee (a silent blue bird). Like other Nick channels, it was owned by MTV Networks. The network's programming consisted mostly of recent Nick Jr. and Noggin original series. On September 28, 2009, Noggin was relaunched as the Nick Jr. Channel.
From April 1, 2002 - December 31, 2007, the channel only aired between 6:00AM and 6:00PM Eastern/5:00AM and 5:00PM Central, with The N airing through the rest of the channel's airtime. On December 31, 2007, Noggin's sister channel, Nickelodeon GAS, left the satellite and digital cable channel lineups, and moved to the online-only TurboNick, with The N taking over Nick GAS's channel position after splitting from Noggin. However, due to technical problems on the Nick GAS/The N change on Dish Network which kept Nick GAS on its usual slot, the channel continued to timeshare with The N on Dish. On April 23, 2009 Dish removed GAS from its lineup (replacing it with the west feed of Cartoon Network) and split The N/Noggin channels on May 6, 2009.

## History

Noggin was created on February 2, 1999 as a joint venture between Viacom's Nickelodeon and the Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop), but Sesame Workshop's interest was sold to Nickelodeon in 2002. Noggin was a 24-hour channel until 2002 when Viacom decided to launch The N, which was a combination of TEENick and Nick@Nite. The N is aimed at teens and has thought-provoking programming considered by many as too complex for Noggin's target pre- and elementary-school-age viewers. At 6:00 A.M. EST on December 31, 2007, Noggin's sister channel Nickelodeon Games and Sports had left the digital cable lineups and was replaced by The N, which allowed Noggin to become a 24 hour channel after spilting from The N.
From 1999-2002, Noggin was targeted at preteens. Starting in 2002, it was targeted for preschoolers; the format was changed due to low ratings. Noggins first mascot was Feetface but now it's a moose and zee since 2003. The network takes its name from a slang term for "head" or, by extension, "brain," reflecting its original purpose as an educational channel. Until the fall of 2003, the network aired classic episodes of Sesame Street, as well as classic Sesame Workshop productions such as 3-2-1 Contact, Square One TV, Cro, and The Electric Company. As of September 2, 2007, Noggin no longer airs any show produced by Sesame Workshop (it has since premiered Pinky Dinky Doo, which is a Noggin Original produced by Sesame Workshop), but had new and old episodes (September 8, 2008-present).
For much of its existence, Noggin did not compete with any other network. When MTV Networks sold its share of PBS Kids Sprout, it became Noggin's official rival network.
In addition to classic episodes of Nickelodeon favorites such as Blue's Clues and Dora the Explorer, and original shows such as Oobi and Jack's Big Music Show, many preschool-oriented shows originating from non-U.S., English-speaking countries that would otherwise not likely be seen on American TV are shown. Some examples include Franklin from Canada and Tweenies, Connie the Cow, Tiny Planets, and 64 Zoo Lane from the UK. However, in 2006, this was being de-emphasized; Tweenies was permanently pulled from the schedule in January, and Tiny Planets was pulled in April 2006. Tiny Planets was previously shown intermittently — but not every day — at 6:00AM Eastern/5:00AM Central, as Tweenies was for a year until it was pulled. Since July 2006 this is also being done with 64 Zoo Lane, suggesting that it too may disappear eventually (however, unlike the other two shows, they also sometimes are showing it at 7:00AM Eastern/6:00AM Central). However, they have also recently introduced The Upside Down Show, which is from Australia (though like the British Tiny Planets, has American origins via Sesame Workshop).
Technically, Noggin did not show commercials, but it did show ads between shows such as Mud N' Bugs Cereal, and Connie the Cow's Milk Break, as well as other "tie-in" media such as a music video that tied in with the film Curious George, and spots for airings of shows on other channels within the Nick family. The channel's other revenues presumably come from fees paid by cable television distributors.
The network was also a launching point for the music videos of pop musician/children's performers like Laurie Berkner, Lisa Loeb and Dan Zanes, initially as filler between 23-minute-long shows run commercial-free, and (because of their success in that format) now as music video shows like Move to the Music. Also, when Sesame Workshop’s classic shows (such as The Electric Company) aired on Noggin, they had to be edited for running time.
On February 2, 2009, the "Nick Jr. on Noggin" bumper was removed.

### New name

In an attempt to extend the association of the Nickelodeon brand to two sister cable channels on February 24, 2009, it was announced that Nick Jr. would be taking over Noggin and TeenNick taking over The N as the 24/7 channels. This is similar to how Nick Jr. launched its own channels in the UK on September 1, 1999 and in Australia on March 14, 2004.
The network's logo has been adjusted as part of a brand unification effort which saw four of the Nickelodeon networks take on a unified look, with the orange-blue color palette of the new logo carrying over from the former version.
At 6:00AM Eastern/5:00AM Central on September 28, 2009, Noggin officially changed its name to Nick Jr. after 10 years of service. Other than the name change, the network remained unchanged, with Noggin mascots Moose A. Moose and Zee carrying over to the new channel.

## International

The Noggin name has been used in the UK for a two-hour 'classic shows' (children's block) block on Nick Jr., and then a morning preschool block broadcast on TMF UK. Falling out of on-air use since 2007, the Noggin name returned to the preschool block in March 2009 on TMF UK.