 | |
| Network | Nick Jr. Channel |
|---|---|
| Launched | October 1, 2012; 13 years ago (2012-10-01) |
| Closed | September 28, 2015; 10 years ago (2015-09-28) |
| Division of | Nickelodeon |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Owner | Viacom Media Networks |
| Headquarters | Glendale, California |
| Sister network | Nickelodeon TeenNick Nicktoons Nick at Nite |
| Running time | 4 hours (10 p.m. - 2 a.m.) |
| Official website | https://web.archive.org/web/20150927120216/http://www.nickmom.com/ |
NickMom was an American nighttimeprogramming block owned byViacom Media Networks (now Paramount Media Networks). It aired on theNick Jr. Channel during thewatershed hours of 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.ET, when the channel's regular audience of children would normally be sleeping. The block carried ad-supported comedy programming targeting an adult demographic, particularly youngmothers. It aired from October 1, 2012 to September 28, 2015. When NickMom was first announced in 2011, over 30 projects were in development for the block.[1][2]
Original shows produced for NickMom included the stand-up comedy show calledNickMom Night Out, the variety showParental Discretion withStefanie Wilder-Taylor, and the docu-comedy showTake Me to Your Mother. The block's highest-rated program wasInstant Mom,[3] which was ordered specifically for NickMom[4] but also aired onNickelodeon's main channel during theNick at Nite block.
At first, the timing of NickMom generated some controversy. As the Nick Jr. Channel only operated a single feed out of the Eastern Time Zone, the channel transitioned into its adult-oriented shows earlier than expected in othertime zones. Viacom fixed this issue in February 2013 with the launch of a secondPacific Time Zone-based feed for the channel. The NickMom block lasted for nearly three years, shutting down on September 28, 2015. The NickMom website was also closed, and the domain now redirects to the parental resources section ofNick.com.
In 2011, Viacom announced that it would launch a new block on the Nick Jr. Channel for the 2012-13 television season known as NickMom, which would be aimed towards young mothers, as part of the company's "cradle-to-grave" strategy[5] where viewers grow into watching other Viacom networks (from Nick Jr. to Nickelodeon, thenMTV,VH1 and then toCBS andShowtime[6]). The company explained that "today's moms who grew up with Nickelodeon have a renewed relationship with us through their kids", and that the new brand would "offer a destination that is unique in today's entertainment landscape with content that taps into Nickelodeon's comedic DNA". Unlike the Nick Jr. Channel's main programming, which was commercial-free at the time, NickMom was to be commercially supported, having reached sponsorship deals with companies includingGeneral Mills. Over 30 projects were in development for the block at the time of the announcement.[1]
On September 9, 2015, the network'sTwitter andFacebook accounts released a statement explaining that the NickMom programming block and website would cease operations by the end of the month.[7][8]
NickMom ended its nearly three-year run at 2 a.m. ET on September 28 after an airing of the 1994 filmGuarding Tess, without any mention of its shutdown. Shortly after, the block's website address was redirected to Nickelodeon's site for parental resources.
Original programming which launched with the block includedParental Discretion withStefanie Wilder-Taylor,MFF: Mom Friends Forever,NickMom Night Out, andWhat Was Carol Brady Thinking?, featuring comedic commentary fromCarol Brady within episodes ofThe Brady Bunch in the style ofPop-Up Video (Florence Henderson herself had no involvement inWhat Was Carol Brady Thinking?, with commentary penned by writers not involved with the original series).[9][10][11]
By June 2013, some of the programs and movies airing on the block had been replaced with syndicated shows already airing onNick at Nite (or with their rights dormant on that channel), such asThat 70s Show,The New Adventures of Old Christine andYes, Dear. Not includingInstant Mom (whose second season aired on Nickelodeon and NickMom, but moved toTV Land for its third),[12] the majority of the block's original shows were canceled due to low ratings or creative differences.
In 2015, movie feature presentations were added to the schedule, with family-friendly and romantic comedies becoming prevalent. After acquiring its syndication rights, NickMom began airing the 2010 iteration of theNBC family drama,Parenthood, in April 2015, the rights forParenthood were later transferred toUp after NickMom's closure as a complement toGilmore Girls being carried by that network which featuredLauren Graham as a star in both series.
The block's timing was met with some controversy. Since the Nick Jr. Channel operated on only one feed that broadcast on a defaultEastern Time Zone schedule, NickMom programming started at earlier times for viewers in different time zones, including as early as mid-afternoon in Hawaii, which was found to be a challenge to parents in those time zones, given the block's adult-oriented humor.[13][14] Due to concerns over inappropriate content, numerous viewers submitted petitions urging the network to cancel the program and even launched a website to mobilize a campaign against the corporations that advertised during its time slot.[15] The single-feed problem was fixed in mid-February 2013, when a second Pacific Time Zone-based feed for the Nick Jr. Channel was launched.[16]
Nielsen ratings for the NickMom block's first week dropped 75% from that same period the year prior when Nick Jr. and Noggin programs aired in the timeslot, with some shows registering a "scratch" as being unrated due to a low sample size.[17] A 2013 report from SNL Kagan and distributed by theParents Television Council, which was opposed to the block, reported that the Nick Jr. Channel had a large loss of half their viewers in primetime, and of advertisers during the time the most racy of NickMom content was available before the addition of Nick at Nite content, along with a surge in the ratings of competitorsDisney Junior andSprout, which continued to air preschool-targeted programming in primetime. The report noted the ratings were among the lowest in primetime for cable networks. Although the report also listed that the network had a cash flow of -27%, the Nick Jr. Channel ran traditional advertising only during the NickMom block and sustained advertising for the rest of the broadcast day, and mainly was aloss leader as part of Nickelodeon's portion of the Viacomdigital cable network suite; those networks usually make little money for the company and feature little to no advertising.[18]
the series launch on NickMom that same night was the block's highest-rated premiere ever