Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which was first tested on December 1, 1977, until it eventually launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is owned by Warner Communications through its MTV Networks division and is based in New York City. Its programming is primarily aimed at children aged 2–17, while some of its program blocks target a broader family audience.

The channel was first tested in 1977 as part of QUBE, an early cable television system broadcast locally in Columbus, Ohio. QUBE's Channel C-3 aired *Pinwheel*, an educational show developed by Vivian Horner. *Pinwheel* performed well with QUBE subscribers, and Horner sought to expand her program into a full channel on national television. The channel, now named Nickelodeon, launched to a new countrywide audience on April 1, 1979, with *Pinwheel* as its inaugural program. The network was initially commercial-free and remained without advertising until 1984.

Throughout its history, Nickelodeon has introduced sister channels and themed programming blocks. On January 4, 1988, Nickelodeon launched Nick Jr., a weekday-morning block aimed at preschool children. On August 11, 1991, it introduced another flagship brand, the Nicktoons: original animated productions created specifically for the network. The Nicktoons brand introduced its own sister channel, launched in 2002.

As of September 2018, the channel is available to about 87.167 million households in the United States.

## History

### Prelaunch: *Pinwheel* (1977–1979)

Nickelodeon's concept was created by Dr. Vivian Horner, an educator and the director of research on the PBS series *The Electric Company*. She created the first Nickelodeon series, *Pinwheel*. The *Pinwheel* show premiered on December 1, 1977, as part of QUBE, an early local cable television system that was launched in Columbus, Ohio by Warner Cable Corp. One of the ten "community" channels that were offered to QUBE subscribers was C-3, which exclusively broadcast *Pinwheel* each day from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time. *Pinwheel* became successful enough for Horner to expand her idea into a full channel on national television over a year later.

Nickelodeon was originally seen as a loss leader for then-parent company Warner Cable. As the company saw it, having a commercial-free children's channel would prove useful in franchising its cable systems across the country, with that advantage putting them over rival companies such as HBO.

### National Launch: TV for a Nickel (1979–1984)

Initially scheduled for a February 1979 launch, Nickelodeon was officially launched on April 1, 1979 (as the first-ever children's network) on Warner Cable franchises across the country. Initial programming on Nickelodeon included *Pinwheel*, *Video Comic Book*, *America Goes Bananaz*, *Nickel Flicks*, and *By the Way*, all of which originated at the QUBE studios in Columbus. For its first few years, *Pinwheel* was the network's flagship series, and it was played for three to five hours a day in a block format.

Vivian Horner asked her co-workers to help come up with a list of possible names for the network. Sandy Kavanaugh (the producer of *Pinwheel*) proposed "Nickelodeon," even though she was not fully satisfied with it. In 2013, she recalled, "I wasn't thrilled with 'Nickelodeon.' It was whimsical sounding, though. It had a fun lilt." The channel's first logo and original advertising campaign name were created by New York-based creative director/designer Joseph Iozzi.

The first model ever used in a Nickelodeon advertisement was the designer's son, Joseph Iozzi II, while the logo's font was designed by Lubalin, Smith, Carnase, Inc. The intent of Iozzi was to replace the graphic of the line illustration of the man peering into the Nickelodeon with a period illustration of a boy in nickers, British flat cap, big suspenders, tip toed on a stylish iron train step looking into the Nickelodeon font. Available time and new management never permitted the planned re-design.

Nickelodeon quickly expanded its audience reach, first to other Warner Cable systems across the country, and eventually to other cable providers. It was distributed via satellite on RCA Satcom-1, which went into orbit one week earlier on March 26 – originally transmitted on transponder space purchased from televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. Despite its prior history as a part of the QUBE system, Nickelodeon designates 1979 as the year of the channel's official launch.

Nickelodeon's original logo incorporated a man looking into a nickelodeon machine that was placed in the "N" in the wordmark. As Nickelodeon originally operated as a commercial-free service, the network ran interstitials between programs, consisting of a male mime portrayed by character actor/mime Jonathan Schwartz doing tricks in front of a black background. At the time of its launch, Nickelodeon's programming aired for fifteen hours each weekday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and for sixteen hours on weekends from 8:00 a.m. to midnight Eastern and Pacific Time. Premium cable network Star Channel (which later relaunched as The Movie Channel in November 1979) would take over the channel space after Nickelodeon's broadcast day ended.

On September 14 of that year, American Express reached an agreement with Warner Communications to buy 50% of Warner Cable Corporation for $175 million in cash and short-term notes. Through the formation of the joint venture, which was incorporated in December 1979, Star Channel and Nickelodeon were folded into Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment (later Warner-Amex Cable Communications), a company which handled the operations of the group's cable channels (Warner Cable was folded into a separate jointly owned unit, the Warner Cable Corporation)

New shows were added to the Nickelodeon lineup in 1980, including *Dusty's Treehouse*, *First Row Features*, *Special Delivery*, *What Will They Think Of Next?* and *Livewire*. In 1981, Nickelodeon introduced a new logo, consisting of a disco ball overlaid by multicolored "Nickelodeon" text. Late that year, the Canadian sketch comedy series *You Can't Do That on Television* made its American debut on Nickelodeon, becoming its first hit series. The green slime originally featured on that program was later adopted by Nickelodeon as a primary feature of many of its shows, including the game show *Double Dare*. Other shows that were part of Nickelodeon's regular schedule during its early years included *The Third Eye*, *Standby...Lights! Camera! Action!* and *Mr. Wizard's World*.

On April 12, 1981, Nickelodeon shifted its daily programming to thirteen hours every day, now airing from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time, seven days a week. The Movie Channel had become a separate 24-hour channel by this point, and Nickelodeon had begun turning over its channel space during its off-hours to the Alpha Repertory Television Service (ARTS) – a fine arts-focused network owned by the Hearst Corporation and ABC joint venture Hearst/ABC Video Services; ARTS became the Arts & Entertainment Network (A&E) in 1984, after ARTS merged with NBC's struggling cable service The Entertainment Channel. Around that time, Warner began divesting its assets and spun off Nickelodeon and music network MTV into the newly formed subsidiary MTV Networks; in order to increase revenue, Nickelodeon began to accept corporate underwriting (a method common in public television) for its programming.

### Laybourne era: Splattering Sucess (1984–1996)

Nickelodeon struggled at first, operating at a loss of $10 million by 1984. The network had lacked successful programs (shows on the network that failed to gain traction during its first few years included *Against the Odds* and *Going Great*), which stagnated viewership, at one point finishing dead last among all U.S. cable channels. After firing its management staff, MTV Networks president Bob Pittman turned to Fred Seibert and Alan Goodman, who created MTV's iconic IDs a few years earlier, to reinvigorate Nickelodeon, leading to what many believe to be the channel's "golden age".

Seibert and Goodman's company, Fred/Alan Inc., teamed up with Tom Corey and Scott Nash of the advertising firm Corey McPherson Nash to rebrand the network. The "pinball" logo was replaced with a new one featuring varied orange backgrounds (a "splat" design) with the "Nickelodeon" name overlaid in the Balloon typeface, which would be used in hundreds of different variations over the next 24 years and 11 months. Fred/Alan also enlisted the help of animators, writers, producers and doo-wop group The Jive Five (best known for their 1961 hit "My True Story") to create new channel IDs. The rebranding went into use on October 1, 1984, and within six months, Nickelodeon would become the dominant channel in children's programming and remained so for 26 years, even in the midst of increasing competition in more recent years from other kids-oriented cable channels such as Disney Channel and Cartoon Network. It also began promoting itself as "The First Kids' Network", due to its status as the first American television network aimed at children. Along with the rebrand, Nickelodeon began accepting traditional advertising.

In the summer of 1984, A&E announced that it would become a separate 24-hour channel as of January 1985. After A&E stopped sharing its channel space, Nickelodeon ran text promos for their daytime shows during the night, then became a 24-hour channel in June, although some cable systems provided programming from a niche cable television service that had no room on system airing on the channel space, with BET being among the most popular choices. Pittman tasked general manager Geraldine Laybourne to develop programming for the late evening and overnight timeslot; to help with ideas, Laybourne enlisted Seibert and Goodman, who conceived the idea of a classic television block modeled after the "Greatest Hits of All Time" oldies radio format after being presented with over 200 episodes of *The Donna Reed Show*. On July 1, 1985, Nickelodeon launched the new nighttime block, Nick at Nite, in the 8:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific time period. That same year, American Express sold its stake in Warner-Amex to Warner Communications.

In the summer of 1984, A&E announced that it would become a separate 24-hour channel as of January 1985. After A&E stopped sharing its channel space, Nickelodeon ran text promos for their daytime shows during the night, then became a 24-hour channel in June, although some cable systems provided programming from a niche cable television service that had no room on system airing on the channel space, with BET being among the most popular choices. Pittman tasked general manager Geraldine Laybourne to develop programming for the late evening and overnight timeslot; to help with ideas, Laybourne enlisted Seibert and Goodman, who conceived the idea of a classic television block modeled after the "Greatest Hits of All Time" oldies radio format after being presented with over 200 episodes of *The Donna Reed Show*. On July 1, 1985, Nickelodeon launched the new nighttime block, Nick at Nite, in the 8:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific time period. That same year, American Express sold its stake in Warner-Amex to Warner Communications. In 1988, the network aired the inaugural Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (previously known as The Big Ballot), a telecast in the vein of the People's Choice Awards in which viewers select their favorites in television, movies and sports. It also introduced an educational program block called Nick Jr., which started off by airing reruns of *Pinwheel* and other preschool-targeted shows.

On June 7, 1990, Nickelodeon opened Nickelodeon Studios, a hybrid television production facility/attraction at Universal Studios in Studio City, California, where many of its sitcoms and game shows were filmed. It also entered into a multimillion-dollar joint marketing agreement with Pizza Hut, which provided a new kid-targeted publication Nickelodeon Magazine for free at the chain's participating restaurants.

Although Nickelodeon had aired externally-produced animation since its launch in 1977, the network did not air original animated series of its own until the early 1990s. On August 11, 1991, Nickelodeon debuted their "Nicktoons" brand with three original animated series: *Doug*, *Rugrats*, and *Ren & Stimpy*. The development of these programs was a reversal of the network's previous concerns, as Nickelodeon had previously refused to produce weekly animated series due to the high production costs. The three series found success by 1992, with *Ren & Stimpy* at one point being the most popular cable TV show. This resulted in the creation of the network's fourth Nicktoon, *Rocko's Modern Life*, which also became a success. Earlier, Nickelodeon partnered with Sony Wonder to release episode compilations of the network's programs, which became top sellers. Nickelodeon switched its distribution to Warner Home Video in 1994, with Warner re-releasing episode compilations of the network's Nicktoons on VHS. *Doug* and *The Ren & Stimpy Show* both ended production around 1995. Rugrats returned from hiatus on May 9, 1997 (reruns continued to air up until that point), and became the anchor for the network as its top-rated program up to that point.

On August 15, 1992, the network extended its Saturday schedule by two hours, with the launch of a primetime block called SNICK from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time; over the years, SNICK became home to shows such as *Are You Afraid of the Dark?*, *Clarissa Explains It All*, *All That*, *The Amanda Show*, and *Kenan & Kel*. In 2004, the block was reformatted as the Saturday edition of TEENick, which originally debuted on Sunday evenings in 2000. The Saturday night block continues today. After a three-year absence following suspension of the publication in 1990, Nickelodeon resumed *Nickelodeon Magazine* under a pay/subscription model in June 1993. In March 1993, the channel enlisted the help of viewers to come up with new shapes in which to display its iconic orange logo in the network's promotions. The designs chosen – a cap, a balloon, a gear, a rocket and a top, among other shapes – were mainly 3D renderings, and debuted alongside a new promotional graphics package in June 1993. The success of the Saturday primetime block in 1995 led Nickelodeon to expand its programming into primetime on other nights in 1996, with the extension of its broadcast day to 8:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time (and later extended to 9:00 p.m. from 1998 to 2009) on Sunday through Friday nights.

In 1994, Nickelodeon launched The Big Help, which spawned the spin-off program The Big Green Help in 2007; the program is intended to encourage activity and environmental preservation by children. That same year, Nickelodeon removed *You Can't Do That on Television* from its schedule after a 13-year run and subsequently debuted a new sketch comedy show, *All That*. For many years, until its cancellation in 2005, *All That* would launch the careers of several actors and actresses including Kenan Thompson, Amanda Bynes, and Jamie Lynn Spears. Dan Schneider, one of the show's executive producers, would go on to create and produce numerous hit series for Nickelodeon including *The Amanda Show*, *Drake & Josh*, *Zoey 101*, *iCarly*, and *Victorious*. Also in 1994, Nickelodeon debuted the Nicktoon *Aaahh!!! Real Monsters*, which would also become a hit series. In October and December 1994, Nickelodeon sold a syndication package of Halloween and Christmas-themed episodes of its Nicktoons to television stations across the United States, in conjunction with Warner Television Distribution.

### Scannell era: A Certain Yellow Sponge (1996–2006)

On February 13, 1996, Herb Scannell was named president of Nickelodeon for ten years, succeeding Geraldine Laybourne. Around that time, Nick at Nite and the Warner recently launched the spinoff channel TV Land.

Up through the 1990s, Saturday morning cartoons had been the most popular children's programs on television. In part because of the imposition of educational television mandates on all broadcast stations in 1996, Nickelodeon and other children's-oriented cable networks (never subject to those mandates as they did not broadcast over the air) now had an advantage in not having to have its programs comply with the mandate. By 1997, Nickelodeon's Saturday morning lineup had shot ahead of all of its broadcast competition, where it would remain for the next several years.

Up through the 1990s, Saturday morning cartoons had been the most popular children's programs on television. In part because of the imposition of educational television mandates on all broadcast stations in 1996, Nickelodeon and other children's-oriented cable networks (never subject to those mandates as they did not broadcast over the air) now had an advantage in not having to have its programs comply with the mandate. By 1997, Nickelodeon's Saturday morning lineup had shot ahead of all of its broadcast competition, where it would remain for the next several years.

Nickelodeon released its first feature-length film in theaters in 1996, an adaption of the Louise Fitzhugh novel *Harriet the Spy*. The film went on to earn twice its $13 million budget. Two years after *Harriet'*s success, Nickelodeon developed its popular *Rugrats* cartoon onto the big screen with *The Rugrats Movie*, which grossed more than $100 million in the United States and became the first non-Disney animated movie to surpass that amount.

On April 28, 1998, Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop partnered to put together an initial investment of $100 million to start an educational television brand for children and pre-teens aged 6–12. The "kids' thinking channel" was named Noggin (derived from a slang term for "head") to reflect its purpose as an educational medium. Sesame Workshop initially planned for it to be an advertiser-supported service, but later decided that it should debut as a commercial-free network. Noggin launched on February 2, 1999, and aired programming from both Sesame Workshop and Nickelodeon's archive libraries.

On May 1, 1999, the channel previewed the animated series *SpongeBob* directly after the Kids' Choice Awards. It became the most popular Nicktoon in the channel's history, and has remained very popular to this day, consistently ranking as the channel's highest-rated series since 2000. By 2001, a third of the series' audience was made up of adults, and the show was run in evening slots. A film adaptation of *SpongeBob* was announced in 2002. The ensuing *SpongeBob* media franchise went on to generate over $13 billion in merchandising revenue for Nickelodeon.

In 2001, Nickelodeon obtained an extended agreement with THQ to produce video games based on their franchises, such as computer game rights to *Rugrats*, *SpongeBob* and *Rocket Power* and console and computer rights to other Nickelodeon shows like *The Wild Thornberrys*. The agreement also covered games based on original intellectual properties, such as *Tak and the Power of Juju*, with the potential that THQ would release a game first, followed by an animated cartoon on Nickelodeon.

In March 2004, Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite were separated in the Nielsen primetime and total day ratings, due to the different programming, advertisers and target audiences between the two services. This caused controversy by cable executives believing this manipulated the ratings, given that Nick at Nite's broadcast day takes up only a fraction of Nickelodeon's programming schedule. Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite's respective ratings periods encompass only the hours they each operate under the total day rankings, though Nickelodeon only is rated for the daytime ratings; this is due to a ruling by Nielsen in July 2004 that networks must program for 51% or more of a daypart to qualify for ratings for a particular daypart.

In 2005, Nickelodeon premiered the animated series *Avatar: The Last Airbender*, which became a hit series for the network.

### Zarghami era: Slipping Up (2006–2016)

On January 4, 2006, Herb Scannell resigned from Nickelodeon. Cyma Zarghami was appointed in his place.

In 2007, Nickelodeon entered into a four-year development deal with Warner Music Group to produce music-themed TV shows for the network, to help fund and launch tie-in albums, and to produce original soundtrack songs that could be released as singles. *The Naked Brothers Band*, a rock-mockumentary series that tells of a pre-teenage rock band led by two real-life brothers who write and perform the songs, broadcast from 2007 to 2009; it was successful for children in the 6-11 age group. By February 2007, the band's song "Crazy Car" was on the *Billboard* Hot 100, and the soundtrack albums from the first two seasons, each of which signed to Warner Bros. Records, were on *Billboard 200*. The next series under this partnership, *Victorious*, ran from 2010 to 2013. A similar hit music-themed sitcom *Big Time Rush* ran from 2009 to 2013. It became Nickelodeon's second-most successful live-action show of all time after *iCarly*; *Big Time Rush* garnered 6.8 million viewers for its official debut on January 18, 2010, setting a new record as the highest-rated live action series premiere in the channel's history.

In early 2009, Nickelodeon unveiled a new logo that would be implemented toward the end of the year, designed by New York City–based creative director/designer Eric Zim. It was part of a year dedicated to strengthening the brand's identity. The logo was intended to create a unified look that can better be conveyed across all of MTV Networks' children's channels. On February 2, Nickelodeon discontinued the TEENick block, as the name would soon be used for its own channel. The new logo debuted on September 28, 2009, across Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, and Nicktoons, along with the newly launched TeenNick (named after the TEENick block) and Nick Jr. (named after the concurrently-running Nick Jr. block).

2011 saw Nickelodeon's longtime ratings dominance among all children's cable channels begin to topple: it was the highest-rated cable channel during the first half of that year, only for its viewership to experience a sharp double-digit decline by the end of 2011, described as "inexplicable" by Viacom management. The channel would not experience a calendar week ratings increase until November 2012 (with viewership slowly rebounding after that point); however its 17-year streak as the highest-rated cable network in total day viewership was broken by Disney Channel during that year.

## Programming blocks

The network's main programming is usually broadcast from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on weekdays (the sign-off time varies with holidays and special programming), Saturdays from 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. (Eastern and Pacific Time).

### Current

* *Nick Jr.* – Nickelodeon currently broadcasts shows targeted at preschool-aged children on Monday through Fridays from 7:00 a.m to 1:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time (7:00 to 10:00 a.m. during the summer months, other designated school break periods, and on national holidays). The block primarily targets audiences of preschool age as Nickelodeon's usual audience of school-aged children are in school during the block's designated time period.
* *Nick@Nite* – Nick at Nite is Nickelodeon's nighttime programming service, which premiered on July 1, 1985, and broadcasts weekdays from 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., and Saturdays from 9:30 p.m. to 7:00 a.m Eastern and Pacific Time. Originally featured classic sitcoms from the 1950s and 1960s such as *The Donna Reed Show*, *Mr. Ed* and *Lassie*, programming eventually shifted towards repeats of popular sitcoms from the 1980s to the 2000s such as *Home Improvement* and *Roseanne*. Nick at Nite has also occasionally incorporated original scripted and competition series.

### Former

* *SNICK* – "SNICK" (short for "Saturday Night Nickelodeon") was the network's first dedicated Saturday primetime block that aired from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time. Geared toward preteens and teenagers, it debuted on August 15, 1992 (with the initial lineup featuring two established series that originally aired on Sundays, Clarissa Explains It All and The Ren & Stimpy Show, and two new series, Roundhouse and Are You Afraid of the Dark?). The block mainly featured live-action series (primarily comedies), although it periodically featured animated series. SNICK was discontinued on January 29, 2005, and was replaced the following week (February 5, 2005) by a Saturday night edition of the TEENick block.