Nick Jr. (block)

For the 24/7 television network, see Nick Jr..

For other uses, see Nick Jr. (around the world).

Nick Jr.
Launched	January 4, 1988
Closed	February 2, 2009
Owned by	Viacom (through Viacom International and MTV Networks)
Slogan	Play with Us!
Country	United States
Language	English
Headquarters	New York City
Sister channel(s)	Nick, Nicktoons, Nick at Nite, TeenNick
Website	TV channel

Nick Jr. was a programming block on the Nickelodeon television channel, seen on Nickelodeon weekday mornings. It was aimed at a preschool-age audience ages 6 and under. On September 28, 2009, Nick Jr. became its own official channel, replacing Noggin. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International.

Programming during this block were generally seen without commercial interruption, although advertisements did run between the programs.

History

Buildup

From April 1, 1979 until January 1, 1988, many shows that might be associated with a preschool audience were broadcast on Nickelodeon, but were not specifically distinguished in their own programming block. Most preschool programs were shown roughly between the hours of 7:00am and 3:00pm, which approximates the hours in which older children might be in school.^[1]

1988–1994

By the start of 1988, on January 4, the Nick Jr. brand was in place and in use, with an approximate six-hour portion of the Nickelodeon broadcast day, at 9:00am – 3:00pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays.^[2] The logo for the new Nick Jr. brand became a distinctive feature for the block. At first, the Nick. Jr. logo was orange for "Nick" and blue for "Jr.". The logo varied in the shape or species (e.g. two stars, two trains, two trees, two robots, two balls, two castles, two pigs, two cows, two horses, two brothers, two cats, two dogs). Until May 1991, a former staple of the Nickelodeon lineup, Pinwheel was featured, and eventually replaced by a new timeslot for Eureeka's Castle. Much of the remaining time in the lineup, particularly early in this time period, was devoted to animated series, many of which were of foreign origin (The World of David the Gnome, The Wiggles, Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show, Noozles, The Adventures of the Little Koala, The Adventures of the Little Prince, The Care Bears, Potato Head Kids, The Littl' Bits, Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics, Maya the Bee, Maple Town, Jim Henson's Muppet Babies). Programming in the vein of live action and puppeted preschool programming also appeared during this time. Many of the Nick Jr. station idents were created using clay animation. The first program ever aired on the block was Belle and Sebastian.

1994–2004

The final pre-Face program aired on December 31, 1993 and it was The Littl' Bits right before the closing ID of Nick Jr and a handover to Friday's Nickelodeon program schedule. After that, they had an advert for Face, the block's mascot. On January 3, 1994, proceeding the first network ID, Nick Jr. introduced Face, the animated host that introduced, and wrapped up shows, and smaller variety pieces. The original Face promos were created in-house at Nickelodeon. On his first day, he changed colors, moods, and feelings, also on that day Muppet Time made its debut. Programming during this period included Allegra's Window, Little Bear, Gullah Gullah Island, The Busy World of Richard Scarry, The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, Little Big Room, Rupert, Rugrats(re-runs, also aired as part of the original Nickelodeon), Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, The Muppet Show, Eureeka's Castle, David the Gnome, The Adventures of Timmy the Tooth, Bob the Builder, and Blue's Clues. Face, in the context of its segments, was capable of materializing objects such as an astronaut, a robot, a clown, a window, a traffic light, stars, even wood, and of creating any number of foley sound effects including a signature three note "trumpet" noise used to lead up to the slogan Just for me, followed by a nod. Face was voiced by Chris Phillips who also voices Roger Klotz on Disney's Doug. On September 1, 2003, Face was given a new look. To promote this, a marathon of back-to-back brand new Dora the Explorer episodes were aired, along with a series of new interstitials called The Mad Caps. The first program ever aired to re-launch was Rubbadubbers. Face was last seen on October 8, 2004.

2004–2007

On October 11, 2004, after a decade, Nick Jr. replaced Face by a new host, Piper O'Possum. The first program aired with Piper at the helm was Dora the Explorer. He was also the daytime presenter of the British version of Nick Jr. (UK) and Nick Jr. 2. Piper was voiced by Allison Brutofski. On Nick Jr.'s British service, he was voiced by a British voice-over actor, with Allison's laugh. "Piper" was last seen on September 7, 2007.

2007-2009

On September 10, 2007, Nick Jr. dropped Piper and introduced new graphics and music. This saw the new look, which indicates preschoolers to play and learn with Nick Jr. characters. The first program aired with this look was Dora the Explorer.

Nick Jr. channel

Main article: Nick Jr.

On February 2, 2009, Nickelodeon removed the Nick Jr. branding from the lineup. Nick Jr. shows continued airing on the slot, but they have the Nickelodeon branding. The final program was Ni Hao, Kai-Lan. On September 28, 2009, Nick Jr. received its own 24-hour TV channel. Also, they received the "It's Like Preschool on TV" slogan, and the orange-and-blue colors were retained. In other countries, the graphics are the same as Nick's, except it says Nick Jr..

Crossprogramming with other networks

Crossprogramming is a term used in broadcast programming. From 2000 to 2002 and from 2004 to 2006, Nick Jr. also ran a Saturday morning children's block for CBS entitled Nick Jr. on CBS, featuring shows from the programming block. Between 2002 and 2004, it was part of the general Nick on CBS block, which also included programming from the main Nickelodeon channel. The block was replaced September 16, 2006, when DIC Entertainment (now Cookie Jar Entertainment) started the KOL Secret Slumber Party/KEWLopolis/Cookie Jar TV on CBS.

Until the fall of 2006, Spanish language US network Telemundo offered Nick Jr. programming in Spanish on Saturday and Sunday mornings, as part of the Nickelodeon en Telemundo block, which featured such shows as Rugrats and Dora the Explorer. In the fall of 2006, after the sale of Telemundo to NBC and the CBS/Viacom split, Nick programming was replaced with a Spanish-language version of NBC/Ion Television's qubo block.

On April 5, 2008, competing Spanish network Univision added Spanish dubbed versions of Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go! to their Saturday morning Planeta U line-up.

For a brief time in summer 2010, Tr3s (a sister network to Nickelodeon) aired a daily block of Spanish-dubbed Nick Jr. programs under the name Tr3s Jr.. Pistas de Blue (episodes from the Steve Burns era of Blue's Clues) and Wonder Pets were featured in the block.

See also

• Dance and Sing! The Best of Nick Jr.
• List of programs broadcast by Nick Jr. (block)
• Nick Jr.

References

1. ^ Nickelodeon programming listing from 5/1987
2. ^ 1988 Premiere of Nick Jr.

External links

• Nick Jr.