Nickelodeon

Nick [nɪk] (until June 28, 2017 Nickelodeon) is a private television channel for children. The name nickelodeon (English for inexpensive movie or vaudeville theater, music vending machine) is borrowed from the name of the first American movie theaters, which were called nickel odeons (odeon, Greek covered theater) because of the admission price of five cents (= 1 nickel). Alternatively, it is derived from the English term nickelodeon (German der Musikautomat), vending machines that used to play short pieces of music (especially at fairs) in exchange for coins.

There are about 30 offshoots of Nick worldwide, among others since September 12, 2005 again in Germany, one year later also in Austria.

United States

The station began broadcasting its program regionally under the name Pinwheel on December 1, 1977. From April 1, 1979, the television program was then available nationwide in the USA and was simultaneously renamed Nickelodeon. In the early days of Nickelodeon there were no commercials, instead there were short clips of a mime performing tricks against a black background. Over the years, Nickelodeon became more successful, not least because of the Nicktoons.

Nickelodeon produces animated series (the so-called Nicktoons), shows for children and live-action series (such as Zoey 101, Ned's Ultimate School Madness, Drake & Josh). The Nickelodeon Group was originally owned by Warner AMEX Satellite Entertainment Company (WASEC) and is now part of Viacom International Media Networks, a subsidiary of the US media conglomerate Viacom.

In 2009, Nickelodeon underwent a realignment. As a result, among other things, the channel The N was renamed TeenNick, Noggin became Nick Jr. and new logos were presented. Since September 2009, as with MTV, there is only one worldwide channel design, which runs on all channels in 172 countries under the name "Nickelodeon". In the following months, people around the world began to follow the realignment. On 28 June, the channel began to be renamed Nick.

Currently (as of July 2018), there are the following Nick stations in the US:

• Nick
• Nick at Nite (in the evening on the same channel as Nickelodeon)
• TeenNick (until September 2009: The N)
• Nick Jr. (until September 2009: Noggin)
• Nicktoons
• Nick Music

Logos

Nickelodeon's first logo took over the font from the pinwheel logo, all further logos were completely new concepts. Nickelodeon's success was shaped by the colorful "Splash" logo, which was used in various versions around the globe for about 25 years. Due to the renaming, the new logo only shows the lettering Nick.

Nick

Sister station

All logos shown have been in use since September 28, 2009. The Nick-at-Nite logo had a different color scheme until 2012.

For more logos, see the articles on Nick Jr. Germany, TEENick, The N, Nicktoons, Nick at Nite, and Nicknight.

Corner logo of Nick USA

Europe

German-speaking area

Germany

In Germany, the programme Nickelodeon was offered from 5 July 1995 to 31 May 1998. On September 12, 2005, Nickelodeon relaunched on the German television market under the name Nick. In the course of establishing the new channel design in 2009, Nick also rebranded as Nickelodeon after 31 March 2010 and adopted the internationally uniform logo. Since 28 June 2017, the station again uses Nick as the name for the program and logo.

Furthermore, there are the pay-TV spin-offs nicktoons (until March 2010: Nick Premium) and, since March 31, 2009, Nick Jr.

Since May 2011, Nick HD has been broadcast in the T-Home Entertain package and via Vodafone TV as an HD simulcast version.

As of October 1, 2014, Nick was back on 24 hours a day. Comedy Central shared airplay with VIVA from September 8, 2014 to December 31, 2018, and was given its own programming slot following its dissolution.

From November 1, 2018 to February 28, 2021, the German offshoot again shared airplay with a sister channel, this time MTV+.

As of February 4, 2019, the Nick Jr. programming window has been waived. Thus, Nick airs consistently from 5:00 to 8:15 pm.

On March 1, 2021, the MTV+ programming lineup was replaced by Comedy Central +1. Comedy Central +1 shows the Comedy Central program time-shifted by one hour. In contrast to the MTV program, the window of the Comedy Central program already ends at 1:00 a.m., the remaining time until 8:15 p.m. takes over Nick again.

Austria

On June 1, 2006, Nick Austria (at that time only: NICK) was launched via Astra Digital and UPC Cable or Digital TV. This channel broadcast a program that was almost identical to that of Nick Germany and differed from the German version only in Austria-specific advertising and partly different broadcast times. In the meantime, the program has been taken over by the Swiss offshoot and interrupted by Austrian advertising.

From January 1, 2011 to September 30, 2014, Nickelodeon Austria shared the broadcast slot with Comedy Central. At 8:15 pm, the Nick program was terminated and Comedy Central took over the frequency until 5:45 am. In the meantime, Nick broadcasts 24 hours a day, starting at 21:00 Nicknight is broadcast.

From 2006 to 2010, VIVA Austria occupied the 7:00 to 6:00 p.m. slot.

The international logo has had the addition of Austria since 13 August 2012.

Switzerland

On 28 September 1998, a Nickelodeon programme window was initially launched on the public Swiss TV channel SRF2, in which numerous series and other remnants of the Nickelodeon programme from Germany were taken over. After 5 years of broadcasting, SF DRS decided to discontinue the contract with Nickelodeon; the program window was henceforth replaced by Junior from EM.TV at the end of September 2003 and by SF tubii and SF tubii tv at the beginning of 2007. From 1 April 2009 to 1 January 2011, Nick Schweiz was broadcast from 5:00 to 20:15 on the frequencies of VIVA Schweiz. In line with the Europe-wide alignment of Viacom brands with the US templates, the Swiss offshoot also adopted the full Nickelodeon designation as of 1 April 2010 and frequency sharing with Comedy Central as of 1 January 2011.

Since 1 October 2014, the Swiss offshoot has also been broadcasting 24 hours a day and has been back on air as Nick since 28 June 2017.

Dutch-speaking area

Netherlands

On 1 September 2002, Nickelodeon in the Netherlands took over the channel slot of the former Dutch children's channel Kindernet. Initially, Nickelodeon Nederland shared the channel slot with the private station Veronica. When this channel was discontinued, Nickelodeon broadcast in the Netherlands around the clock for the time being. In 2005, Nickelodeon had to restrict its broadcasting time again to the period 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., as it now had to share a channel with the newly founded private station Talpa. From December 2006 until 14 February 2011, Nickelodeon Nederland again broadcast from 5:00 to 20:00 and shared a channel with the comedy channel Comedy Central. Since February 14, 2011, they have been broadcasting the evening channel TeenNick from 9:00 pm. Nickelodeon Nederland itself shows, in addition to well-known animated series, some very successful in-house productions and American real-life series. Since April 2012, Nickelodeon Nederland also broadcasts in HD.

Flanders

On 1 April 2003, Nickelodeon started in Flanders. Initially, it was the same version that was broadcast in the Netherlands. However, in the summer of 2009 they started their own broadcasts and began to show the program and advertising in Flemish. Broadcasting was daily from 6:00 to 18:00 (later: 5:00 to 20:00), the rest of the time MTV Vlaanderen broadcast. On 4 October 2011, Nickelodeon Vlaanderen got its own broadcasting slot, between 4 October 2011 and 5 November 2012 TeenNick started one hour earlier in Flanders than in the Netherlands (at 20:00 instead of 21:00). In Flanders, unlike in the Netherlands, there is no HD version of the channel.

United Kingdom

Nickelodeon UK & Ireland launched its programming on 1 September 1993. Nickelodeon UK & Ireland does not feature any Nick Jr. shows in its programming, all of which air on two separate channels, namely Nick Jr. UK & Ireland and Nick Jr. 2. The bulk of the programming consists of live-action series such as Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, iCarly and Genie in the House. In addition, there are the so-called NICKtoons such as Spongebob Squarepants and Mighty B, as well as other bought-in animated series. On 15 February 2010, Nickelodeon UK rebranded and has since then also carried the new logo already introduced in the USA.

France

Nickelodeon France was launched on 16 November 2005 and can be received via cable, satellite and ADSL. However, the regular 24-hour programme did not start until 4 September 2006, but currently only broadcasts between 6:00 and 0:00.

For a long time, the slogan of the French channel was "Splash La Télé", because the logo was often "splashed" against the screen and thus looked like a puddle. Nickelodeon France has been broadcasting with the new logo since 2010.

The sister station Nickelodeon Junior has as the only Nick Jr. offshoot the written out Nickelodeon as well as Junior. In the show Dora is - as in the original - playfully taught Spanish.

The station is based in Paris.

Scandinavia

In Sweden, Denmark and Norway, Nickelodeon has been available via satellite, cable and ADSL since 1996. Some of the most popular shows are SpongeBob SquarePants, Scary School, Rugrats, Dora and Rocko's Modern Life.

In Finland, the station launched its program on September 1, 2007, and can also be received there via satellite and cable.

In the meantime, country-specific versions of Nickelodeon have been launched in Sweden (from 18 June 2006), Finland and Denmark (from 15 March 2008). While the Scandinavian offshoot in Sweden has been replaced by the Swedish version on all reception channels, the Scandinavian version can still be received in Denmark and Finland via satellite. In Norway, the version for all of Scandinavia is broadcast with Norwegian advertising.

Other European countries

• Croatia had its own Nickelodeon window from November 1997 to December 2011, and since 14 December 2011 Nickelodeon Hrvatska has been broadcasting 24 hours a day.
• Nickelodeon has been broadcasting in Italy since 1 November 2004.
• Ireland has had its own Nickelodeon since 2004. This is the Nickelodeon UK & Ireland channel, which is broadcast with Irish commercials.
• Nickelodeon first went on air in Portugal on 1 June 2005.
• Since 10 July 2008, Nickelodeon can also be received in Poland.
• In Turkey, Nickelodeon has been reaching households in encrypted form since 10 December 1997. A Nickelodeon window is broadcast on weekends on the Turkish free TV channel CNBC-e. Between 31 August 2011 and 1 March 2012, only Nickelodeon Europe was available in Turkey, as the Turkish version had been discontinued.
• In Moldova and Russia, Nickelodeon has been available in Russian since 15 November 1998. What the situation is in other CIS countries is not known.
• Since September 3, 2010, Nickelodeon is also available in Greece.

Nick Jr. 2 Logo


Logo of the discontinued Nickelodeon Switzerland on SF DRS


current logo of the Austrian branch


Old logo of the discontinued Nickelodeon Germany (1995-1998)