Nickelodeon (Nick for short) is an American cable TV network for children. The world's first cable channel devoted to programming for children and youth, Nickelodeon debuted in 1979 as Pinwheel (renamed to "Nickelodeon" in 1981). It was originally owned by Warner Amex Satellite Entertainment, a joint venture of American Express and the cable division of Warner Bros.; it is now part of MTV Networks, a division of Viacom. From the beginning, Nick has produced innovative programs, such as Pinwheel, You Can't Do That on Television, Double Dare, Mr. Wizard's World, Hey Dude, Figure It Out, Fifteen, Clarissa Explains It All, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Salute Your Shorts, Ren and Stimpy, Rugrats, SpongeBob SquarePants, and The Fairly OddParents. Nickelodeon also became known for its iconic green slime, originally used on the Canadian sketch-comedy show You Can't Do That on Television, then adopted by the station as a primary feature of many of its shows, especially Slime Time. In 1986, Nick held the Big Ballot, an award show voted on by kids that would later become the Kids' Choice Awards (http://www.nickkcapress.com/2004KCA/content/fun_facts.php). Each April, the Kids' Choice Awards show honors kids' favorites in movies, music, television, and sports, and features appropriately juvenile elements like the Best Fart award and a celebrity burp-off. Nickelodeon began producing original animated shows, known as Nicktoons, in 1991. The three original Nicktoons, Doug, Rugrats, and Ren & Stimpy, debuted that year.

Nick.com

Nick's website, Nick.com (http://www.nick.com), launched in 1995. The website features many sections and services:

• The "myNick" service allows regular visitors to the website to get personalized information, post on message boards, and collect e-Collectibles, akin to trading cards (the very first collection commemorated the 10th anniversary of Rugrats in 2001).
• The "All Nick" section features description of Nickelodeon's television shows and movies, the current programming schedule, specials, and information on their magazine, Nick Magazine.
• The "Games" section features games of various sorts (many based on Nick programs) and information on popular video games.
• The "Music" section is devoted to popular music, featuring news on various artists and music videos.
• The "Web Lab" section features has web exclusives, like Shockwave Flash-animated games featuring Agent Pixel and Tony Simiano, among others; shorts featuring the Crimson Chin from The Fairly Oddparents; and e-Cards.
• The "Blab" section features message boards for each Nickelodeon show, and from time to time, celebrities chat in the "Blab-a-torium" chat room.
• The "Your World" section features the Nick GAS (Games and Sports) subsection, sections devoted to entertainment news, e-calendar, weather, horoscopes, jokes, weird news, and "Nick Talk".

Nickelodeon magazine

Nickelodeon also publishes Nickelodeon Magazine. The current magazine was launched in 1993, following a short-lived effort from 1990. It contains informative non-fiction pieces, humor, interviews, pranks, recipes (such as green slime cake), and a big comic book section in the center that features original comics by leading underground cartoonists as well as strips about popular Nicktoons.

Other Nickelodeon channels

In the US, Nick airs the Nick at Nite programming block from prime time to early morning. It features various Paramount Pictures and Viacom-owned programs from the 1980s and '90s such as The Cosby Show, Roseanne, and Cheers. Nick at Nite also introduced Fatherhood, an animated show based on the book by Bill Cosby.

In 1996, Nick at Nite spun off the channel TV Land, which currently airs a variety of older shows, primarily sitcoms from the 1950s to the present.

Nickelodeon has spun off other cable networks: Nick Too, Nick Games and Sports (Nick GAS), Nick Toons, and Noggin/The-N (originally a joint venture with Sesame Workshop). They also operate language- or culture-specific Nickelodeon channels for various markets in different parts of the world, and have licensed translated versions of some of their cartoons and other content to TV and cable stations such as Kinderkanal and Super RTL of Germany, YTV (Youth TV) of Canada, Canal J of France, and Alpha Kids from Greece.

Outside of the U.S., Nickelodeon appears in Argentina, Australia, Belgium (as a block on MTV), Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, India, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Russia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

See also: List of Nickelodeon shows.

Nickelodeon Studios

Nickelodeon Studios is an attraction at the Universal Studios theme park in Orlando, Florida. The facility is a working production studio where many Nickelodeon shows are produced. For several years, Wanda and Cosmo from The Fairly OddParents have been mascots for Nickelodeon Studios, appearing on its commercials and program openings.

See Also

• List of Nickelodeon shows

External links

• Nick.com (http://www.nick.com/)
• Nick's website for the U.K. and Ireland (http://www.nick.co.uk/)
• Nick's Australian website (http://www.nickelodeon.com.au/)
• Nick's Belgian site (http://www.nickelodeon.be/)
• Nick's Swedish site (http://www.nickelodeon.se/)
• Nick's Japanese site (http://www.nickjapan.com/)
• Nick's site for The Netherlands (http://www.nickelodeon.nl/)
• Nick's site for Spain (http://www.nickelodeon-es.com/)
• Nick's site for Latin America (http://mundonick.com/)
• Nick's Danish site (http://nickelodeon.dk/)