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Noggin (TV channel)

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Noggin
Ownership
OwnerMTV Networks (Viacom)

Noggin is a cable television network in both the United States and the United Kingdom, intended to help kids learn. This channel features Moose A. Moose and Zee. It is one of Nickelodeon's sister channels, concentrating on preschool programs.


Programs

Current shows

Former shows

History

In the United States, Noggin is a channel for preschoolers between 6AM and 6PM EST (3AM and 3PM PST).

At 6pm, Noggin becomes The N, a teen-oriented network. Some of The N's shows are Degrassi: The Next Generation, Instant Star, Whistler, Clueless, My So-Called Life, and South of Nowhere. All shows on Noggin are rated TV-Y (formerly TV-Y7). Most on The N are TV-PG, though some are even TV-14. Clueless, however, was rated TV-G when it aired on The N, and Just Jordan was rated TV-Y7.

Noggin was originally created as a joint venture between Viacom's Nickelodeon and the Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop), but Sesame Workshop's interest was sold to Nickelodeon in 2002, though Sesame Workshop continues to develop content for the network, including Play With Me Sesame, an interactive show based on the original Sesame Street.

At one point, Noggin was targeted at preteens, but the format was changed, due to low ratings. The network takes its name from a slang term for “brain” (see noggin), reflecting its original purpose as an educational channel. Until the Fall of 2003, the network aired classic episodes of Sesame Street, as well as classic Sesame Workshop productions such as Sesame Street Unpaved and The Electric Company. As of August 31, 2005, Noggin no longer airs any show produced by Sesame Workshop, except for Play With Me Sesame and The Upside Down Show (which like Tiny Planets was a foreign production by them).

In addition to classic episodes of Nickelodeon favorites such as Blue's Clues and Dora the Explorer, and original shows such as Oobi and Jack's Big Music Show, many preschool-oriented shows originating from non-U.S. English-speaking countries that would otherwise not likely be seen on American TV are shown. Some examples include Franklin from Canada and Tweenies, Connie the Cow, Tiny Planets, and 64 Zoo Lane from the UK. However, in 2006, this is being de-emphasized; Tweenies was permanently pulled from the schedule in January, and Tiny Planets was pulled in April 2006. Tiny Planets was previously shown intermittently — but not every day — at 6am Eastern/3am Pacific, as Tweenies was for a year until it was pulled. Since July 2006 this is also being done with 64 Zoo Lane, suggesting that it too may disappear eventually (however, unlike the other two shows, they also sometimes are showing it at 7am Eastern/4am Pacific). However, they have also recently introduced The Upside Down Show, which is from Australia (though like the British Tiny Planets, has American origins via Sesame Workshop).

Noggin claims it does not run commercials, but it has shown ads between shows. The most memorable of these were for Mud N' Bugs Cereal, Connie the Cow's Milk Break, and a music video that tied in with the film Curious George. The channel's only other apparent revenue comes from fees paid by cable television distributors, and it is presumably allowed by Viacom to run at a financial loss because of its role in introducing preschoolers to the concept of music videos and the important Nickelodeon brands Dora the Explorer and Blue's Clues.

The network has also become a launching point for the music videos of pop musician/children's performers like Laurie Berkner, Lisa Loeb and Dan Zanes, initially as filler between 23-minute-long shows run commercial-free, and (because of their success in that format) now as music video shows like Move to the Music. Also, when Sesame Workshop’s classic shows aired on Noggin, they had to be edited for running time (see The Electric Company).

Noggin does not adjust its programming for the continental US's four time zones. Thus on the West Coast, programming begins at 3am and ends at 3pm. As a result, The N is shown there during the afterschool 3pm–6pm period.

noggin.com is Introduction game of the month on the nickjr's games from march 2007

The United Kingdom channel

Noggin

Noggin UK was a children's television slot broadcast on MTV's free-to-air music channel, TMF, from 7am to 9am daily. It launched in its most recent format on January 30, 2006. It was the first commercial children's television channel to air on the UK's DTT platform, Freeview, followed by CITV, then lastly Playhouse Disney on ABC1. Prior to its launch on TMF, it was carried as part of Nick Jr. between 8pm and 10pm, but focused on classic animated children's programmes from the late 1960s to early 1990s. This strand has since been replaced with Nick Jr Classics. It is based on the USA-owned channel Noggin, which has been broadcasting since 1999.

On Monday 25 September 2006, Noggin was replaced by a new strand named Nick Jr on TMF, which is identical to its predecessor with the exception of the new branding.

Set of programs broadcast on Nick Jr.

On the original strand broadcast on Nick Jr UK

See also