Noggin (TV channel)

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Noggin is a cable television network in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Contents

1 The United States channel

1.1 Shows on the original Noggin
1.2 Shows on The N

2 The United Kingdom channel
3 External links

The United States channel

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 , Instant Star, Daria, Clueless, My So-Called Life, and South of Nowhere. All shows on Noggin are rated TV-Y. Most on The N are TV-PG, though some are even TV-14.

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 pre-teens, 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 3-2-1 Contact, Square One TV, Cro, and The Electric Company. As of August 31, 2005, Noggin no longer airs anything affiliated with Sesame Workshop, save for Play With Me Sesame.

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 be permanently removed eventually.

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 TV 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-cum-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 cut for running time (see The Electric Company).

The channel 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 teen channel the N is shown there during the afterschool 3pm–6pm period.

Shows on the original Noggin

Shows on The N

Degrassi
South of Nowhere
O'Grady
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (reruns)
Moesha (reruns)
Girls vs. Boys
Instant Star
Sabrina: The Teenage Witch (reruns)
Summerland (reruns)

The United Kingdom channel

In the United Kingdom, Noggin previously broadcast from 8 pm to 10 pm, after Nick Jr. programming finished for the day. Unlike the U.S. version, the channel was a nostalgia channel showing classic animated children's programmes from the late 1960s to early 1990s, including:

On 1 January 2005, the first new episode of Mr Benn premiered in over 30 years, “'Mr. Benn, Gladiator”.

From January 30, 2006, Noggin launched a new strand for pre-schoolers on sister channel TMF, thus being the first Children's FTA commercial station available via Freeview (The second, the Citv channel, followed two months later). The slot on Nick Jr was renamed Nick Jr Classics.

On TMF only:

External links

Viacom Inc.

Annual Revenue: .3 billion USD ( 10% 3Q 2005) | Employees: 38,350 | Stock Symbol: NYSE: [VIAB] | Website: [www.viacom.com]

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