Nick Jr. | |
---|---|
Launched | January 4, 1988 February 2, 1999 (as Noggin) September 28, 2009 (as a channel/Nick Jr.) |
(as a block/Nick Jr. first run)
Network | Nickelodeon |
Owned by |
Viacom Media Networks (Viacom) |
Picture format |
480i (SDTV)16:9 1080i (HDTV) 16:9 |
Slogan | The Smart Place To Play |
Country | United States |
Broadcast area | National |
Formerly called | Noggin (1999-2009) Play Date(block) (2009-2012) Nick: The Smart Place to Play(block) (2012-2014) |
Sister channel(s) |
Nickelodeon Nick at Nite TeenNick Nicktoons NickMusic |
Website | www |
Availability
|
|
Satellite | |
DirecTV (US) | 301 (SD/HD) |
Dish Network (US) | 169 (SD/HD) |
Cable | |
Available on many cable systems. | Check local listings for channels. |
IPTV | |
AT&T U-verse | 1320 (HD) 320 (SD) |
Verizon FiOS | 256 (SD) 756 (HD) |
SkyAngel | 310 |
Streaming media | |
Sling TV | Internet Protocol television |
Nick Jr. is a television block that premiered on the U.S cable channel Nickelodeon on January 4, 1988 and an American digital cable and satellite television channel that is run by the Nickelodeon Group, a unit of the Viacom Media Networks division of Viacom, the channel's ultimate owner. The channel, which is aimed at preschoolers aged 2-6, features a mix of originally-produced programming, and series previously and concurrently aired on the "Nick: The Smart Place to Play" block, and its previous iterations, on Nickelodeon. Due to the Nickelodeon block, Nick Jr. is sometimes disclaimed on air as "the Nick Jr. channel" to avert confusion, especially times of day where both Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. are both carrying preschool programming.
The channel was originally known as Noggin from its February 2, 1999 launch until September 28, 2009. Sister channel The N was relaunched as TeenNick at the same time as Noggin's relaunch as Nick Jr.; as with TeenNick, Nick Jr.'s name was taken from a former program block on parent channel Nickelodeon, which aired weekday mornings from 1988 to 2009 under the Nick Jr. name; and still survives today on Nickelodeon as a block known in promotions also known as "Nick Jr." since 2014 (which regularly airs from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET; 7:00 to 10:00 a.m. ET during the summer months or on designated school break periods and major national holidays), which has traditional commercial breaks and no common continuity between each series.
As of February 2015, Nick Jr. is available to approximately 75.4 million pay television households (64.8% of households with television) in the United States.
In 1995, Children's Television Workshop (now known as Sesame Workshop) began planning its own educational cable channel as a new home for most of its programming (other than Sesame Street) such as Cro (which had aired on ABC with excellent ratings, but was canceled after 2 seasons). The channel was to be called "New Kid City" and was planned to be CTW's "own niche on the dial with shows that emphasize educational content"; but CTW later abandoned the concept.