Nick Jr. is a programming block on the Nickelodeon television channel, seen on
Nickelodeon weekday mornings. It is aimed at young children aged 2 to 8
years. On September 28, 2009, Noggin was renamed Nick Jr. and the block was
temporarily renamed "The Play Date." In 2014, the Nick Jr. name began to be used
for both the block and network. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of
Viacom International. History
= 1988–1994 = From the morning of January 4, 1988,
onwards, 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 every weekday.
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. Until July 1990, a former staple of the
Nickelodeon lineup, Pinwheel was featured, originally for three hours,
then for one hour during spring-summer 1989. When Eureeka's Castle premiered in
September 1989, Pinwheel was split into two separate half hours in the morning
and afternoon, where it remained until July 1990. 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. Programming of both live action
and puppeted preschool programming also appeared during this time. Many of the
Nick Jr. network ID's were produced by VideoWorks Inc. with 2D animation, CGI
animation and clay animation. In 1993, Nick Jr. introduced its first rebrand in
five years, with idents, promos, and bumpers featuring an orange figure with
the word "NICK" it resembling a parent and a blue figure with the word "JR." in
it resembling a child doing activities. The promos and bumpers featured a female
announcer and some promos and bumpers featured kids holding hands and walking
around the Nick Jr. logo. Several Nick Jr. promos and bumpers carried the
slogan "Grow, Learn, and Play". This rebrand was short-lived, as it lasted
until Face was introduced in the autumn of the following year.
= 1994–2004 = The final pre-Face program aired on
Friday, September 2, 1994 and it was The World of David the Gnome right before
the closing ID of Nick Jr and a handover to Friday's Nickelodeon program
schedule. After that, they had an advertisement for Nick Jr.'s upcoming
rebrand, also mentioning Face, the block's mascot. On Monday, September 5,
1994, proceeding the first network ID, Nick Jr. introduced Face, the animated
host that introduced, and wrapped up shows, and smaller variety pieces. More
than 400 Face promos were created and produced by Nick Digital, and later at
Data Motion Arts from 1995 to 1999 and again from 2001 to 2002, and then at
Napoleon Videographics from 1999–2003, and finally at Vee-Pee Cartoons from
2003–2004. From this point forward, he changed colors, moods, and feelings, and
during the 1994-1995 television season, a slew of new shows and shorts
premiered, including Nick Jr. Little Big Room, Muppet Time, Gullah Gullah Island,
Allegra's Window, The Busy World of Richard Scarry, and Winky Love. Nick Jr
also moved its sign off time to 2:00 pm starting that day. 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, Franklin,
Rupert, Rugrats, Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, The Muppet Show, Eureeka's
Castle, Bob the Builder, and Blue's Clues. Face, in the context of his
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,
which he often made after mentioning the programming block's name, followed by a
nod and small chuckle. Face was voiced by Chris Phillips who also voiced Roger
Klotz on Disney's Doug and various promos & TV commercials. Original Face
was removed from the lineup on Friday, August 29, 2003. On Monday, September 1,
2003, Face was given a new look, which added eyebrows and a chin and
straightened the eyes by inverting their colors from white dots on black eyes to
black, larger dots on white eyes. Also, his voice turned into a D.J. rapper-like
voice. Also, a new series of segments called Nick Jr. Play Along debuted, and
the new segments were hosted by two fun, live-action hosts – Robin and Zack.
Alongside Robin and Zack were four sock puppets called the Feetbeats. New Face
and the Play Along segments were removed from the lineup on Friday, October 8,
2004. = 2004–2007 =
On Monday, October 11, 2004, Nick Jr. introduced a new mascot named Piper
O'Possum, and also was branded by a new slogan, "Nick Jr! We Love to Play!".
Piper O'Possum's last appearance was Friday, September 7, 2007. The last
program that aired with this look was Go, Diego, Go!.
= 2007–2009 = On Monday, September 10, 2007, Nick Jr.
was updated and introduced new graphics and music. The Nick Jr. logo's shapes
resembled plushies now. The plushies seen in the logos included robots,
bunnies, and monkeys. 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. = 2009–2014 =
On February 2, 2009, Nickelodeon removed the Nick Jr. branding from its lineup.
Nick Jr. shows continued airing on the slot, but with the Nickelodeon branding,
replacing the Nick Jr. branding, and the addition of more frequent commercial
advertising. The final program was Ni Hao, Kai-Lan. On September 28, 2009,
Nick Jr. replaced Noggin as a 24/7 TV channel. This makes it the first that
Nickelodeon does not brand its preschool shows in a program block since 1988.
= 2014–present = In May 2014, Nickelodeon began using the
"Nick Jr." name in advertisements to refer to both the network and block.
When aired on the Nick Jr. channel, commercials for programs broadcast on
Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block usually end with "Nick Jr. over on Nickelodeon" to
differentiate the titles. Programming
= Cross programming with other networks Cross programming is a term used in
broadcast programming. From 2000 to 2002 and from 2005 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 2005, 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 started the KOL Secret Slumber PartyCookie 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 aired a daily block of Spanish-dubbed
Nick Jr. programs under the name Tr3s Jr.. Pistas de Blue and Wonder Pets!
were featured in the block. Face made an appearance during the 2012
New Year edition of The '90s Are All That, TeenNick's 1990s-oriented late
night block. Face's appearances consisted of out-of-context clips that
make him appear to be drunk or making adult comments. Face later made an
appearance on The Splat for a Halloween promo in 2015.
See also Dance and Sing! The Best of Nick Jr.
Nick Jr. Nickelodeon
References External links
Nick Jr.