TeenNick is an American digital cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the MTV Networks Kids & Family Group, a unit of the Viacom Media Networks division of Viacom. The channel features a mix of original programming, Nickelodeon-produced series, and acquired programs geared towards pre-teens and teenagers.
The channel was originally known as The N from April 1, 2002 (when it originally launched as a program block on Noggin) to September 28, 2009. TeenNick's name was taken from the former TEENick program block, which aired on parent channel Nickelodeon from 2001 to 2009.
As of August 2013, TeenNick is available to approximately 73,443,000 pay television households (64.31% of households with television) in the United States.
History
Block (2001-2009)
- Main article: TEENick
TV channel (2009-present)
Longtime Nickelodeon personality Nick Cannon (declared in publicity materials as the "Chairman of TeenNick") has a presence on the network, along with new programming exclusive to the network. TeenNick's afterschool to primetime blocks have been divided into two distinct blocks:
- 3pm-9pm ET - Programming meant for early to mid teenage audiences (13-16), mainly older originals from The N era, and acquired sitcoms and other teen dramas.
- 9pm-12am ET - Programming meant for older teen and young adult audiences (17 and up), including new episodes of TeenNick programming and acquired programming.
- 12am-2am ET (Coming Fall 2011) - Nickelodeon programming from the 90s, including All That, Kenan and Kel, The Amanda Show, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, and Clarissa Explains it All.
The N (2002-2009)
When the channel originally debuted on 1 April 2002, The N ran from 6:00PM-6:00AM (North American Eastern Time Zone) / 5:00PM-5:00AM (Central Time Zone), sharing time on the same channel with Noggin, which had started as a service of Viacom and the Children's Television Workshop as a mix of a channel meant to show CTW and Nick Jr.'s archived programming.
By 2002 however as Viacom showcased its own programming and made clear that they wanted Nick Jr. to compete with longtime CTW partner PBS Kids, CTW, by then known as Sesame Workshop, decided to reduce their interest in the network due to several factors, including the network's primetime ratings with "retro programming" to appeal to both baby boomers and young children not being as high as Viacom or Sesame Workshop expected them to be. With this move, MTV Networks was free to launch the concept of The N.
In October 2006, Viacom bought the quiz website Quizilla. It then became a part of The N "network."
In August 2007, MTV Networks announced the discontinuation of The N's sister network Nickelodeon Games and Sports, which by that point had lost all of its original programming and was reduced to airing few of the Nickelodeon game shows which were the impetus for launching Nick GAS in the first place. MTV Networks decided to retain the satellite space and split Noggin and The N into two separate channels on 31 December 2007, with The N taking the place of Nick GAS.
Technical difficulties with relaunch
On 31 December 2007 Noggin regained their full channel again after The N took over Nick GAS's channel slot. DirecTV did not make the exchange until 7:25AM Eastern/6:25AM Central for unknown reasons. Most digital cable viewers saw no problems with the transfer from Nick GAS to The N, beyond some electronic program guide listings still showing Nick GAS's programming schedule or all programs under the titles Sign off or Off Air, precluding the setup of Digital Video Recorder recordings for The N's programming.
For satellite viewers however, the conversion from Nick GAS to The N was not seamless. Subscribers to Dish Network were still receiving Nick GAS's regular programming, while the Noggin/The N timeshare continued as it had since 2002 on Channel 169, likely due to technical issues on Dish's end.
On 23 April 2009 as part of a minor channel shuffle, Nick GAS on channel 177 (by then just a continuous automated loop of programming) was closed down. On 6 May 2009 The N was placed 24/7 over Dish Network on channel 181, with Noggin remaining on 169. with Cartoon Network's Pacific Time Zone schedule replacing that network.
Programming
- Main article: Wikipedia:List of programs broadcast by TeenNick