Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay-TV channel launched on December 1, 1977 as the first cable channel for children. It is owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks division's Kids & Family Group unit and is based in New York City, United States. It is primarily aimed at children and adolescents aged 2–17.
History[]
The channel was originally first tested as Pinwheel on December 1, 1977. Pinwheel was at the time only available on QUBE in Ohio, which was the first two-way major market interactive cable television system, owned by the now-defunct Warner Cable (today as part of Zaslav's merged company). Pinwheel relaunched as Nickelodeon on April 1, 1979, and expanded to other cable providers nationwide. It was initially commercial-free and remained without advertising until 1984. Warner sold Nickelodeon, along with its sister networks MTV and VH1, to Viacom in 1986.
Nickelodeon and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy[]
Nickelodeon created a partnership with Starz, Frederator, Bolder Media, to develop a children's program based on a book. The Tail of Flopsy, Mopsy, and Ted was selected, eventually developing into Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!. The show premiered on the channel in August 2006, premiering new episodes on the channel through 2009. Three years later, the Nick Jr. block itself was dissolved into "Nick's Play Date", carrying preschool-aimed shows (such as Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!) under the regular Nick moniker.
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! last aired on the main Nickelodeon channel on December 20, 2010. The brand's rights to the show expired on April 14, 2014, when most mentions of the show were permanently pulled from their websites and channels.