 Logo used since August 21, 2025 | |
| Product type |
|
|---|---|
| Owner | Noggin Holdings, Inc. |
| Country | United States |
| Introduced | February 2, 1999 (television channel)[1] March 5, 2015 (streaming service, original) August 21, 2025 (streaming service, beta revival) |
| Discontinued | September 28, 2009 (television channel) July 2, 2024 (streaming service, original) |
| Markets |
|
| Previous owners | Sesame Workshop (co-owner; 1999–2002) Paramount[a] (1999–2024) |
| Website | noggin.com |
Noggin is an Americanentertainment brand launched on February 2, 1999. Currently astreaming service, Noggin features educational series and games for children ages 5 to 12.[2] Originally co-founded byParamount[a] andSesame Workshop,[3][4] Sesame left the company in 2002. Paramount retained ownership until 2024, when it sold the brand to Noggin's former CEO, Kristen Kane.[2]
From 1999 until 2009, Noggin was a cable television channel. The channel featured a daytime programming block for preschoolers and an overnight block for teenagers called "The N."[5][6] From 2015 to 2024, Noggin was a streaming service, featuring both classic Noggin series and new original series.[7] In August 2025, Noggin was relaunched as a new streaming app.[2]
Noggin has received positive critical reception throughout its history, primarily for its older-targeted series. In 2003, Noggin received aPeabody Award for its seriesA Walk in Your Shoes.[8] From 2004 to 2008, Noggin won threeWebby Awards for its website. Noggin received aWriters' Guild of America Award and threeGLAAD Media Award nominations forMiracle's Boys andSouth of Nowhere, both made for its teen programming block, The N.[9][10]
The framework for Noggin was established in 1995, whenSesame Workshop (then known as the Children's Television Workshop) planned to start an educational cable channel called "New Kid City."[11]The Los Angeles Times reported that creating its own channel was "the only way to ensure a home for its highly acclaimed shows," since other cable networks had replaced Sesame Workshop's educational programming with commercialized, merchandise-driven series.[11] Meanwhile,Nickelodeon (part ofParamount, then known as MTV Networks) planned its own educational channel called "Big Orange."[12][13] When the two companies learned of each other's ideas, they partnered to create a channel together.[14][15]
The channel was named Noggin, a slang term for a person's head. The name reflected the channel's purpose: to encourage children to think, discover new things, and use their imaginations.[16] When it started, Noggin was mostly aimed at a pre-teen audience.[17] Its main goal was to provide "fun shows that help kids learn and inspire their curiosity – all without feeling like they're in school." Noggin's core values included the statements: "Kids want to learn. Kids are naturally curious. There are no stupid questions."[18]
Noggin's first logo was the bottom half of a smiling cartoon face. The logo's upper half featured different icons that represented topics the head was "thinking of" (such as a beaker to reflect science, or flowers to reflect springtime).[18] Hundreds of different "toppers" were designed for the logo. For its first few years, Noggin often captioned its logo with the slogan "What sparks you?" It also aired videos of children and teens responding to the question, explaining their favorite topics that "spark" their imaginations.[19]
Noggin's logo was featured in many original animations that ran between shows on the channel. In its early years, Noggin's creative team hired "sick and twisted" independent animators to create commercials for them, hoping that they could each bring their own personal design elements to the logo. The goal was to make the logo "look unlike any other network" and inspire viewers' creativity.[20] In 2019, the original Noggin face logo was retired and replaced with a lowercasenoggin wordmark written in purple.[21] In August 2025, a third logo was introduced: a pink wordmark with "NOGGIN" written in curved letters, resembling the shape of a brain.[2]
The first service established under Noggin was a cable television channel. It operated from February 2, 1999, until September 28, 2009. Noggin was originally aimed at pre-teens, since Noggin's creative team felt that this age group was "underserved when it comes to new, quality educational television."[22] One of Noggin's goals was to disprove the idea "that educational programming is not entertaining enough to attract pre-teens and young adults."[23] The Noggin channel was commercial-free and allowed teachers to tape its programs foruse in their classrooms.[24]
Noggin's original lineup included classic episodes ofThe Electric Company,3-2-1 Contact,Cro,Square One Television, andGhostwriter from Sesame Workshop's library. It also included series likeWild Side Show,Nick News andDoug from Paramount's library.[25] From 2000 to 2002, Noggin aired reruns of the science showBill Nye the Science Guy.[26]Bill Nye also starred in brand-new segments made specially for Noggin, where he played the role of Noggin's "head sparkologist" and tried to find out what topics sparked viewers' imaginations.[27]
Noggin's first original program wasPhred on Your Head Show, which featured an animated host named Phred.[28] A second original series,A Walk in Your Shoes, premiered in October 1999.[29] Each episode ofA Walk in Your Shoes followed two different people "switching lives" to better understand each other's cultures.[30] In 2000, Noggin introduced three series of shorts that aired during program breaks:Me in a Box, which featured children making dioramas to represent their personalities;Citizen Phoebe, about a girl who wants to run for president; andOobi, a preschool series featuring bare-hand puppets.
By 2001, original content made up 40% of Noggin's schedule. That year, Noggin premiered four new shows:Big Kids, a British-American co-production;[31]On the Team, a documentary about a Little League baseball team;[32]Sponk!, a game show centered aroundimprov acting;[33] andThe URL with Phred Show, which showcased viewers' submissions to the Noggin website. On April 1, 2002, the channel was reorganized into two blocks: a daytime block for preschoolers and a nighttime block, The N, for teens.[6]Play with Me Sesame, a new series featuringSesame Street characters, debuted on the same day.[34]
Sesame Workshop continued to co-produce shows for Noggin until 2009, most notablyOut There[35] andThe Upside Down Show,[36] two live-action series. Both shows were developed by Sesame Workshop's writers in New York and filmed by a multinational team in Australia.[37] On September 28, 2009, the Noggin channel closed, and its channel space was replaced by a24-hour channel based on Nickelodeon'sNick Jr. block; the Noggin brand was placed on a six-year hiatus until 2015.[38]
The N (standing forNoggin) was an overnight programming block on the Noggin channel, aimed at older children and teenagers. It aired from April 1, 2002, until December 31, 2007. It took several months for Noggin to choose the right name for the block; as reported byKidscreen in 2002, they needed a name to "help distance and distinguish the tween programming from the preschool fare", but the legal department also required the block to maintain a relation to Noggin's main name.[39]
Noggin's preexisting tween-targeted shows—likeA Walk in Your Shoes andSponk!—only aired during The N from 2002 onward. Noggin produced several original series for the block, including the animated comedyO'Grady, the dramaSouth of Nowhere, and the competition showGirls v. Boys. The N was also the U.S. broadcast home of the Canadian seriesDegrassi: The Next Generation.[40] Noggin aimed to promote a variety of life skills through the shows on The N, including self-respect, constructive thinking, and tolerance of diversity.[41]
Like the rest of Noggin, The N's shows were created with educational goals,[42] which was uncommon for teen programming. The block was managed by the same team that made Noggin's preschool shows. The team considered it a challenge to focus on both preschoolers and an older audience,[43] but because both focused on educational shows with valuable life lessons, they felt Noggin and The N had a "unified brand identity." From 2007 to 2009, the block was moved from Noggin to anew channel, which carriedTEENick programming throughout the day and relegated The N's content to a block at night.[44][45] According toPolygon, "Nickelodeon began phasing out The N's programming and replacing it with TEENick, an entertainment block with no educational curriculum and zero involvement from Noggin. The N lost its footing by 2009, and both [The N] and its website closed down completely."[46]
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On March 5, 2015, Noggin relaunched as a streaming service.[47][48][49] It included older shows from Noggin's time as a cable channel. In 2020, Noggin premiered new shows available exclusively on the service. These included an exercise show calledYoga Friends and a cooking show calledSchool of Yum.Kinderwood, an animated series about five classmates at a magical school, premiered on Noggin in 2020.[50] In 2021, the service introduced a half-hour educational show calledNoggin Knows and a series of shorts calledThe Noggins, which featured new teal-colored mascots called Noggins.
The Noggin streaming service also launched internationally. Spanish and Portuguese versions were released in Latin America in November 2015.[51][52][53] On September 21, 2020, it was announced that the Noggin service would launch in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Austria as an add-on toAmazon Prime Video.[54]
On February 13, 2024, when Paramount CEO Bob Bakish announced that the company would be laying off 800 workers, unconfirmed reports began surfacing on social media that Noggin would shut down due to layoffs. Two days later, Kidscreen reported that the entire Noggin team was laid off and the Noggin service would be shutting down in the coming months; they also announced that Noggin stopped accepting new subscribers, with a transition period for current subscribers.[55][56] On May 3, an email notified customers that the Noggin service would shut down on July 2, 2024, and customers who were still subscribed to Noggin would no longer be billed after May 30.[57][58] The service was shut down on July 2, 2024.
On August 21, 2025, it was announced that Noggin would relaunch as a new streaming service for an older audience of pre-teens. AKidscreen article confirmed that Paramount sold Noggin to Kristen Kane, who previously ran Noggin as its CEO from 2019 to 2024. Following the sale, Noggin is now fully independent.[2]
The relaunched Noggin features a virtual game world, "Noggintown," which is an updated version of "Nogginville" from the previous Noggin app. The game replaces the previous preschool-aged player avatars with teenage avatars.
Throughout its history, Noggin has featured unique cartoon characters who acted as thehosts and mascots of the brand. During Noggin's time as a cable channel, these mascots often appeared during program breaks to introduce shows. Noggin has had the following mascots:
The Noggin channel launched along with an interactive website, Noggin.com. It was first active from 1999 to 2009 and returned in 2015. The site featured games, blogs, printables, and fact sheets. The website was integrated into some of Noggin's earlier shows, likeSponk! andThe URL with Phred Show, which featured viewer-submitted questions and artwork from Noggin.com.[64][65] Throughout 2000,Bill Nye ofBill Nye the Science Guy answered questions asked by Noggin.com users between airings of his show.[66][67] In 2001, Noggin launched "Chattervision", which allowed viewers to comment on different shows online and see their comments live on TV.[68]
One of the website's first games was the "Noggimation Station", which taught visitors about theanimation process and allowed them to design their own animations, some of which were chosen to air on TV.[69] Another website, called MyNoggin.com, was launched in October 2007.[70] It was a subscription-based site that offered educational games and allowed parents to track their child's progress in different subjects.[71][72]
On September 4, 2024, the Noggin website, trademarks and content library[73] were purchased from Paramount by Noggin's former CEO, Kristen Kane, though a separate company named Noggin Holdings, Inc. On October 3, Noggin's website was updated, featuring a green version of Noggin's 1999 logo over the message "Rebooting..." on a black background.[74][75] On February 24, 2025, the website added a waitlist form where the user could sign up to "be the first to know when Noggin is back." In August 2025, the website became a guide to the relaunched Noggin app.
Blocks based on Noggin have aired on other channels.TV Land aired a one-night Noggin special on April 26, 1999.[76][77] Spanning two hours, the special featured reruns ofThe Electric Company, along with animated shorts featuring the Noggin logo.[78] Noggin shows were also occasionally seen on the main Nickelodeon channel.[79] On June 6, 1999, Nickelodeon ran the first episode of Noggin'sPhred on Your Head Show.[80]
On March 27, 2000, Nickelodeon introduced a half-hour block of Noggin shows that aired every weekday morning until June 2001. The block was originally titled "Noggins Up" and became "Noggin on Nickelodeon" during its second year on the air.[81] It showcased one tween-oriented program every weekday, includingA Walk In Your Shoes andOn the Team. The block attracted thousands of visitors to the Noggin.com site.[82] Nickelodeon revived the block for a single day on April 7, 2003.[83][84][85] Following the block's removal, premiere episodes of Noggin series were oftensimulcast on Nickelodeon and Noggin.[86]
The Noggin name was used for an otherwise unrelated programming block onNick Jr. UK from May 2004 until September 2005.[87] It ran for two hours every night and included reruns of older British television series for children.[88] On January 30, 2006, Noggin was launched as a block onTMF in the United Kingdom, this time in the style of the US Noggin.[89][90] It ran every weekday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.[91][92] Noggin continued for a short time on TMF's successor,VIVA, until March 2010.
From May 2021 to March 2022, the Nick Jr. Channel aired an hour-long block of programming from the Noggin streaming service every Friday.[93][94] The block, titled "Noggin Hour", featured shows such asNoggin Knows andKinderwood,[95][96] as well as the acquired seriesHey Duggee andJoJo & Gran Gran. Since July 30, 2021, Noggin interstitials played during commercial breaks, and a purplescreen bug reading "On Noggin" was shown toward the beginning of each show.
| Name | Active date | Country | Partnership(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noggin | February 2, 1999 -July 30, 2021 |  United States | Independent (February 2, 1999 - September 28, 2009) TV Land (April 26, 1999 - December 1999) Nickelodeon (March 27, 2000 - February 7, 2007) Nick Jr. Channel (May 28 - July 30, 2021) |
| Noggin/Noggin on TMF/Viva | May 31, 2004 - March 2010 |  United Kingdom | Nick Jr. (May 31, 2004 - September 5, 2005) TMF (January 30, 2006 - October 26, 2009) Viva (October 26, 2009 - March 2010) |
Noggin held live events to promote its shows. At the 2001 North American Trade Show in Minnesota, Noggin presented a replica of the set fromOobi.[97] In spring 2002, Noggin launched a live version of itsPlay with Me Sesame series, featuring mascot characters and music from the show.[98][99] In May 2002, theJillian's restaurant chain offered "Noggin Play Days" each Wednesday afternoon, where attendees could watch a live feed of Noggin with themed activities and meals.[100]
In March 2004, Noggin partnered withGGP shopping malls to host a free arts-and-crafts program called Club Noggin.[101][102][103] It debuted at five malls in April of the same year.[104] Attendance at the first few events exceeded expectations,[105] leading GGP to bring Club Noggin to over 100 malls across the United States.[106] The monthly events were hosted by trainedYMCA leaders, who offered crafts and activities based on Noggin characters.[107] Each meeting was themed around a different Noggin show.[108][109]
From October 2005 until late 2006, Noggin sponsored a music festival called "Jamarama Live", which toured the United States.[110][111] The tour had performances fromLaurie Berkner, a musician onJack's Big Music Show.[112][113] It also had appearances from a mascot costume of Moose A. Moose.[114] Reviewers forTime Magazine compared Jamarama to a family-friendly version ofLollapalooza.[115]
In November 2005, a Noggin float appeared atAmerica's Thanksgiving Parade.[116] In November 2006, Noggin hosted an online charity auction on its website, called the "Noggin Auction". Viewers could bid on props from different Noggin shows.[117] Noggin also auctioned off props from The N's teen shows, with the money going to homeless shelters.[118] In August 2007, Noggin partnered withSt. Jude Children's Research Hospital and sponsored its annual Trike-A-Thon program.[119][120]
Noggin has received positive critical reception, as well as several awards and nominations for its series, branding, and website. Noggin received threeWebby Awards for its website: one in 2004 in the Broadband category,[121] a second in 2005 in the Youth category,[122] and a third in 2008.[123]Time Magazine also included the Noggin site on its "50 Best Websites of 2004" list.[124] Noggin received aParents' Choice Award in 2008.[125]
In 2003, Noggin's documentary seriesA Walk in Your Shoes received aPeabody Award.[8] In 2006, Noggin won aWriters' Guild of America Award for its miniseriesMiracle's Boys.[9] Noggin received threeGLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series forSouth of Nowhere: in 2006,[10] 2007,[126] and 2009.[127] In 2007, Noggin received three awards forThe Upside Down Show: a Creative Craft Daytime Emmy Award,[128] aParents' Choice Award Silver Honor for Television,[129] and aLogie Award in the categoryMost Outstanding Children's Program.[130]
This Site at THE-N.COM is fully controlled and operated by Noggin LLC, a joint venture of MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International, Inc., and Sesame Workshop.
[Noggin] stressed imagination and thinking, and I was branded an 'edgy' and 'sick and twisted' animator ... Design-wise, the Noggin executives wanted their network to look unlike any other network.
The whole experience was guided by two characters unique to Noggin ... this summer the SVOD rolled out a new interface focused instead on recognizable characters.
Big Kids, billed as 'an educational series' and co-produced with the Nickelodeon- and Sesame Workshop-backed U.S. kids channel Noggin
TDU started out as a purely North American concept set in New York.
New York's Sesame Workshop, Nickelodeon Australia and local prodco Blink Films are coproducing a new preschool series,The Upside Down Show.
The newest addition to that sked is Noggin-produced seriesPlay With Me Sesame... the series marks the first time a State-side entity other than Sesame Workshop has been given permission by Henson to use the Sesame Street Muppets.
[The channel] will serve tweens and teens with programming from Nickelodeon's popular TEENick block during the day and continue as The N at night.
The gameplan for now is to run a daytime block of TEENick shows ... and then stack the originals, specials and movies in the evenings .... Sarah Tomassi Lindman expects the TEENick fare to create a more gender-balanced audience.
The latest original, Titmouse's preschool showKinderwood (30 x seven minutes), launched on December 3
The alpha teens were created for The N by Berkeley-based comic-book author Adrian Tomine
completed airing its first season on 6/11/21
6/4/21: Dandy Dandelion (R)
