.svg){kind=logo} Logo used since September 4, 2023[a] | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | One Astor PlazaNew York City,New York, U.S. |
| Programming | |
| Languages | English Spanish (viaSAP audio track) |
| Picture format | 1080iHDTV (downscaled toletterboxed480i for theSDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Paramount Media Networks(Paramount Skydance Corporation) |
| Parent | Nickelodeon Group |
| Sister channels | List
|
| History | |
| Launched | September 28, 2009; 16 years ago (2009-09-28) |
| Replaced | Noggin (channel) |
| Links | |
| Website | www.nickjr.com (Archive link) |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Affiliated streaming service | Paramount+ |
| Other service(s) | DirecTV Stream,FuboTV,Hulu + Live TV,Philo,Sling TV,YouTube TV |
TheNick Jr. Channel (sometimes shortened toNick Jr.) is an Americanpaytelevision channel owned by theNickelodeon Group, a sub-division of theParamount Media Networks division ofParamount Skydance Corporation. An offshoot ofNickelodeon'sNick Jr.programming block, the channel launched on September 28, 2009, in the space previously held byNoggin, and primarily targets children ages 2 to 6 years old. Its lineup features a mix of original programming along with series from the Nick Jr. block. To avoid confusion between the two entities, the channel has been identified on-air as the "Nick Jr. Channel" since March 2018 and on-screen until September 2023.
Noggin was relaunched in 2015 as astreaming media service and operated as a separate sister brand until its shutdown in 2024.Noggin's programming is distinct from Nick Jr.'s, carrying pre-teen programs in its early years as a channel,[1] while the revived streaming service featured a variety of exclusive series. From May 2021 to March 2022, the Nick Jr. Channel aired a "Noggin Hour" block of programming every Friday,[2][3][4] featuring series such asNoggin Knows andKinderwood.[5]
Both the Nick Jr. block and channel are currently running, with the former airing weekdays on Nickelodeon from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET (hours vary during summer months, other school breaks, and major national holidays), featuring traditional commercial breaks for certain programs. As of November 2023[update], the Nick Jr. Channel is available to approximately 54 million pay television households in the United States — down from its peak of 77 million households in 2013.[6]
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| 1977 | FirstPinwheel broadcast onQube |
|---|---|
| 1979 | Nickelodeon is launched byWarner-Amex Satellite Entertainment |
| 1984 | A&E merges two networks onto Nickelodeon's prime time schedule |
| 1985 | Launch of prime time and overnight programming throughNick at Nite with A&E's spin-off to 24-hour operation |
| 1986 | Viacom acquires network parent MTV Networks |
| 1987 | The firstBig Ballot, which would became theNickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards |
| 1988 | Nick Jr. launches in mornings |
| 1990 | Opening ofNickelodeon Studios atUniversal Studios Florida |
| 1991 | The firstNicktoons premiere |
| 1992 | SNICK, the network's Saturday night block, begins Nickelodeon Animation Studio is founded |
| 1993 | Nickelodeon UK debuts |
| 1994 | Nickelodeon launchesThe Big Help |
| 1995 | Nick.com is launched |
| 1996 | First theatrical release byNickelodeon Movies |
| 1999 | Noggin, a joint venture withCTW launches |
| 2000 | Nickelodeon on CBS airs from 2000–2006 |
| 2001 | TEENick is launched |
| 2002 | The N is launched on Noggin andNicktoons TV is launched Sesame Workshop sells their stake in Noggin to Viacom MTV Hits is launched |
| 2005 | SNICK shuts down Nickelodeon Studios closes |
| 2007 | Nick GAS shuts down, The N takes over its channel space |
| 2009 | Nickelodeon acquires theTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise TEENick and The N merged to createTeenNick, Noggin is replaced by theNick Jr. Channel |
| 2010 | Nickelodeon begins co-producing theWinx Club franchise |
| 2011 | NickRewind launches on TeenNick as The 90's Are All That |
| 2012 | NickMom is launched overnight on the Nick Jr. Channel |
| 2015 | NickMom closes Noggin relaunches as a streaming service |
| 2016 | MTV Hits becomesNickMusic |
| 2019 | Nickelodeon acquires theGarfield franchise |
| 2021 | NFL on Nickelodeon premieres in partnership withCBS Sports More Nickelodeon content becomes available onParamount+ |
| 2022 | NickRewind is discontinued, although it is still active on social media |
| 2024 | Noggin shuts down; the brand is later sold to CEO Kristen Kane Closure of NickJr.com and its content is moved to Nick.com Closure ofPakistani channel |
| 2025 | Closure of international Nickelodeon websites Noggin relaunches as an independent platform Closure ofCanadian andBrazilian channels |
Since its inception in 1977, Nickelodeon's channel space had aired preschool-oriented programs, includingPinwheel, which was their first original series. These were usually played on weekday mornings when older children were in school and younger children were not. This block ran from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. On January 4, 1988, Nickelodeon debuted a name for its preschool block:Nick Junior. Between September 1988 and mid-1989, the name was shortened toNick Jr. on-air.[7]
At launch, the block mostly showed imported series purchased from other companies.Eureeka's Castle was the first original series that Nickelodeon made for the block. Brown Johnson, the former vice president of Nick Jr., stated in a 2000 interview that afterEureeka ended production, Nick Jr. became "a neglected daypart" compared to the main Nickelodeon.[8] "Without the investment of energy or money, the block floundered until 1994 when the network poured $30 million into a full-scale relaunch," said Johnson.[8]
On September 5, 1994, the Nick Jr. block began its relaunch and introduced Face, its first host and no longer ran commercial breaks as intermissions during shows.[9]Gullah Gullah Island andAllegra's Window, the second and third original series made for Nick Jr., premiered. They resulted in 50% rating gains for the block. From then onward, Nickelodeon continued to create its own productions for Nick Jr. and foreign-made imports were phased out.Blue's Clues andDora the Explorer became ratings draws for both the block and Nickelodeon as a whole.
Before gaining its own spin-off network, the Nick Jr. block extended to several other networks:Nick Jr. on CBS from 2000 to 2006, andNick Jr. on Noggin from 2003 to 2009. TheNick Jr. on CBS block ended on September 9, 2006, when CBS replaced its Nick Jr. programming withKOL Secret Slumber Party.[10] Nick Jr. series continued to appear on Noggin until its closure in 2009, when the Nick Jr. channel replaced it.
On February 23, 2009, Nickelodeon announced that Noggin would be replaced by a channel named after the Nick Jr. block. The intention was to bring the channel in line with the Nickelodeon brand identity. In July of that year, Nickelodeon unveiled new standardized logos for its five channels, intending to create a unified look that could better be conveyed across the services.[11]
When the Nick Jr. channel debuted on September 28, 2009, at 6:00 a.m. ET, a new logo was debuted and designed by New York-based creative director/designer Eric Zim. Although the use of an orange "adult" and blue "child" figure was discontinued in the newwordmark logo, the tradition of the "Nick" text being orange (representing the adult) and the "Jr." text remaining in blue (as the child) was retained.[11] Until 2012, the Nick Jr. channel retained Noggin's on-air branding style and played several of its programs, most notably the mascotsMoose and Zee. It also continued not to accept traditional advertising ormarginalize closing credits for promotion of other shows on the channel.
On March 1, 2012, the Nick Jr. channel received a new rebrand produced by Gretel Inc.Jessica DiCicco became the network's announcer, and the Moose and Zee mascots were completely dropped after nine years, removing one of the last vestiges of Noggin; as a result, some of the interstitial learning activities that originally featured Moose's narration (like thePuzzle Time segments) were recycled and replaced by her narration. The channel's slogan changed from "It's Like Preschool On TV" to "The Smart Place To Play" (which was also used as the branding for the Nick Jr. block), while several shows —The Upside Down Show,Oswald,Jack's Big Music Show,Franklin,Toot & Puddle andMiss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends — were pulled from the lineup; most of them would return later that year, while the former could still be seen on the channel's website at the time.
At this point, programming began to be hosted by characters from Nick Jr. shows. The Nick Jr. channel also began incorporating programming promotions and short features on that date; seven months later, on October 1, 2012, it started airing limited traditional advertising (for companies such asABCMouse,Kmart,Chuck E. Cheese's,Nabi,Clorox,Walmart,Lysol andPlayskool) in the form of underwriter sponsorships airing in-between shows, whereas itsparent network airs longer traditional advertising.
On May 21, 2018, the channel refreshed their imaging with new interstitial pieces and updated curriculum notices, and began to promote themselves as the "Nick Jr. Channel" audibly and visually to avoid confusion with the Nickelodeon block.[12]
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On September 4, 2023, the channel rebranded to use the refreshed splat logo, as well as new bumpers and curriculum boards (to keep in line with the Nickelodeon block, which began using the new branding on July 5, 2023). On the same day, the "Nick Jr. Channel" logo was changed to one reading simply "Nick Jr." for the first time since 2009. However, new promos continue to refer to the channel as the "Nick Jr. Channel".
From October 1, 2012, to September 28, 2015, a four-hour block of parent-targeted shows calledNickMom aired from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.ET. The NickMom name started out with a humor website in 2011[13] and the four-hour time slot aired comedies likeInstant Mom andNickMom Night Out.
On September 9, 2015, the social media channels ofNickMom announced that the four-hour weeknight block on the Nick Jr. channel, along with the NickMom website, would end operations by the end of September 28, 2015, due to Viacom's 2015 cutbacks involving acquired programming and also due to NickMom's low ratings[14] with the time vacated by NickMom returned to traditional Nick Jr. programming likeDora the Explorer,Blue's Clues,Team Umizoomi, andBubble Guppies. In the early morning of September 28, 2015, NickMom ended its 3-year run at 2:00 a.m. ET, with an airing of the filmGuarding Tess. No sign off message was shown; after the filmGuarding Tess, it faded straight into an episode ofYo Gabba Gabba! at its end. NickMom's former website address is now used as aredirect to Nickelodeon's site for parental resources.
Following NickMom's closure, the Nick Jr. channel increased the amount of traditional advertising it aired, but also began scheduling programs in an inversion of the "off-the-clock" format where the network shortened some of its commercial breaks, allowing the network to air more programming. The "off-the-clock" format was previously adopted by various Viacom networks, such asTV Land,Nick at Nite andComedy Central (though in a reversed form, the scheduling format for those channels was designed toadd extra advertising loads).
On May 28, 2021, the Nick Jr. channel introduced an hour-long block of programming from the Noggin app every Friday.[4] The block was usually titled "Noggin Hour"[2] and was retitled "Noggin Presents" on days when it ran longer than an hour.[3] Series featured in the timeslot included the Noggin originalsKinderwood[5] andNoggin Knows, as well as the acquired showsHey Duggee andJoJo & Gran Gran. Noggin interstitials played during commercial breaks, and a purplescreen bug reading "On Noggin" was shown toward the beginning of each show.
The Nick Jr. channel schedule mainly features reruns from Nickelodeon's library of preschool programming, along with a few original series exclusive to the channel. As of 2022, the channel's lineup includesThe Adventures of Paddington,Baby Shark's Big Show!,Blaze and the Monster Machines,Blue's Clues & You!,Bubble Guppies,Face's Music Party,Hey Duggee,Kiri & Lou,Paw Patrol,Peppa Pig,Ryan's Mystery Playdate,Santiago of the Seas, andTeam Umizoomi.
| Service | Description |
|---|---|
 | Nick Jr. HD is thehigh-definitionsimulcast feed of Nick Jr. that broadcasts in the1080i resolution format; the feed first began broadcasting on August 1, 2013.[15][16] Like other Viacom-owned networks that have high-definition feeds,16:9 sourced content broadcasts in HD, while4:3 sourced content broadcastspillarboxed. As of 2018, many providers carry the high-definition feed and downscale it for the standard-definition feed, broadcasting in 16:9 letterboxed to fit the 4:3 ratio. |
| Nick Jr. On Demand | Nick Jr. on Demand is the network'svideo-on-demand service, which is available on most subscription providers. |
| Nick Jr. on Pluto TV | Advertising-supported streaming servicePluto TV, which Viacom acquired in January 2019, added a free version of Nick Jr. on May 1, consisting mainly of older library and archive content.[17] There are also several channels on the service devoted solely to one Nick Jr. series around the clock, and overall advertising is reduced on these channels, as is done on the cable services. |
| Paramount+ | Programming from Nick Jr. was slowly introduced to what was then CBS All Access in November 2019 after the closure of the Viacom/CBS merger,[18][19] and was a part of Paramount+ from its March 4, 2021 launch. |
| Noggin | An educational brand launched by Nickelodeon andSesame Workshop. Its flagship channel launched on February 2, 1999 and occupied the channel space that is now held by the Nick Jr. channel. The Noggin brand was placed on hiatus in 2009 and relaunched as a separate streaming service on March 5, 2015; it has remained separate from Paramount+. In May 2021, the Nick Jr. channel introduced a block of programming from the Noggin app every Friday, called "Noggin Hour".[2] |
On May 16, 2011,MTV Networks launched two new channels,Nick Jr. andMTVNHD, in Asia. These 24-hour channels began to be available onStarHub TV inSingapore on May 18, 2011, and onTelekom Malaysia Berhad'sUnifi TV inMalaysia on June 1, 2011. The channel launched aggressively to the rest ofSoutheast Asia later.[20]
An African version of Nick Jr. was launched on September 30, 2014, along withNicktoons.[21] InPoland, Nick Jr. is available onPlatforma Canal+ since March 2013. In Romania, Nick Jr. is available onUPC Romania since October 24, 2014.
Versions of Nick Jr. also exist inthe United Kingdom and Ireland,Germany,The Netherlands & Flanders,India,France,Italy,Latin America, andAustralia. On November 3, 2017, Nick Jr. launched inPortugal.[22] In 2023, the European Nick Jr. channels started to merge together, sharing more and more the same schedule between some versions.
Nick Jr. is also available inJapan in the form of a programming block on theJapanese version of Nickelodeon.
International versions of the TV channel include:
completed airing its first season on 6/11/21
6/4/21: Dandy Dandelion (R)
International websites
