Nick Jr.
Nick Jr. or Nick, Jr., sometimes disambiguated as Nick Jr. on Nickelodeon or Nick Jr. on Nick, is a morning preschool programming block that airs on Nickelodeon every weekday. Launched on January 4, 1988, Nick Jr. features programming aimed at children aged 2 to 8.
On September 28, 2009, Nickelodeon launched a separate channel named after the Nick Jr. block as a replacement for the Noggin cable channel, which was known occasionally on air as the "Nick Jr. Channel" until 2023 for differentiation purposes.
History
Early years (1988–93)
Since its launch on April 1, 1979 and throughout the 1980s, Nickelodeon aired programs for preschoolers on weekdays 8:00 am – 2:00 pm and weekend mornings. After Nickelodeon's preschool block premiered a slew of new shows in 1987, it began using the Nick Junior branding on, coinciding with the premiere of the Spanish program The World of David the Gnome. A new rebrand for the block that abbreviated its name to Nick Jr. was gradually rolled out from September 5, 1988 to the summer of 1989. Nick Jr.'s new logo was orange for 'Nick' and blue for 'Jr.', and it varied in the shape or species. Like with Nickelodeon, Nick Jr.'s network IDs featured the block's logo in different shapes and styles. At launch, the block aired from 8:30 am – 2:30 pm. On weekends, preschool programs aired at earlier hours of the day, and in the case of Eureeka's Castle went unbranded.Until June 29, 1990, Pinwheel was featured, originally for three hours, then for one hour starting in spring 1989. When Nick Jr.'s original series Eureeka's Castle premiered in September, Pinwheel was split into two separate half hours in the morning and afternoon, where it remained until June 29, 1990, after which the block was truncated to run from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm on July 2, 1990, another solidified timing from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm on June 15, 1992, and lastly from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm on October 5. Much of Nick Jr.'s other programs at the time were of Japanese or otherwise foreign origin.
Grow, Learn, and Play (1993–94)
On, Nick Jr. premiered a new series, Cappelli & Company, and received a new rebrand which prominently featured a new logo consisting of an orange parent and a blue child, and the slogan Grow, Learn, and Play. Several Nick Jr. bumpers featured kids playing near a Nick Jr. logo and a theme song with the slogan sung to the melody of London Bridge, and interstitials were created featuring Cappelli & Company host Frank Cappelli on the set. Nick Jr. also started using a female announcer in its promos and bumpers. Nick Jr. began to invest more into producing original interstitial series in order to stay within a self-imposed limit of five minutes of commercials per hour.A year later on April 4, the "Jim Henson's Muppet Hour" sub-block was created by pairing Muppet Babies reruns with the new acquisition The Muppet Show. Due to Nick Jr.'s declining ratings as well as competition from PBS' children's programs and TLC's Ready Set Learn block, Nickelodeon spent $30 million revamping Nick Jr. over the next three years. On June 13, older-skewing Nickelodeon series Rugrats, The Alvin Show, Dennis the Menace, and Lassie joined Nick Jr.'s lineup, as the block's branding was temporarily de-emphasized in favor of Nickelodeon programming.
On October 21, 1994, the Grow, Learn, and Play interstitials ended their 1-year run.
Just for Me/Play to Learn (1994–2003)
On, Nick Jr. returned with new on-air branding and premiered two new original series, Gullah Gullah Island and Allegra's Window, resulting in 50% rating gains for the block. Nick Jr. also introduced Face, an animated mascot that introduced shows and interstitials and led into commercial breaks. In the context of his segments, Face was capable of materializing objects such as an astronaut, a robot, a clown, a window, a traffic light, stars, and even wood. He was also capable of creating a number of Foley sound effects and voices including an iconic signature three-note trumpet noise usually following the name "Nick Jr." at the end of almost every bumper. Also, he changed colors, moods, and feelings. Face was voiced by Chris Phillips, who also narrated several Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. promos.In 1995, Nick Jr. acquired broadcast rights to The Busy World of Richard Scarry from sister network Showtime, and later premiered Rupert on September 11 and Little Bear on November 6.
Nick Jr. received a new rebrand produced by Pittard Sullivan on. On September 8, the first episode of Blue's Clues premiered in primetime on Nick at Nite, then aired on Nick Jr. the next day. Blue's Clues quickly deposed Gullah Gullah Island as Nick Jr.'s most popular series. Rugrats was pushed out of Nick Jr.'s lineup after May 2, 1997, to make room for second showings of Little Bear and Blue's Clues. The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss replaced Papa Beaver's Storytime on October 7, 1997, after a series of occasional airings on the block from October 21, 1996, to February 1997. On March 16, 1998, the "nickjr.com" website was launched. Later that year, Nick Jr. rebranded again and introduced the "Just for Me" slogan. A sign-on and sign-off bumper featuring the "Just for Me" slogan was used on Nick Jr. video releases from 2000–04.
In the first quarter of 1999, Nick Jr. premiered three new series based on books, Franklin on January 11, and Kipper and Maisy in February, which helped increase the block's ratings. Little Bill premiered later in 1999; the series' first episodes premiered on Nickelodeon Sunday nights before airing on Nick Jr. the next day. Nick Jr. briefly aired reruns of Shining Time Station beginning June 5, 2000 to promote the film Thomas and the Magic Railroad, before replacing it with Dora the Explorer on August 14, which became one of Nick Jr.'s most successful series.
The US dub of Bob the Builder premiered on Nickelodeon on January 13, 2001, before airing on Nick Jr. two days later; Oswald premiered on August 20. On, Nick Jr. received a new rebrand produced by AdamsMorioka and Editional Effects, intended to have a greater appeal towards parents. In the spring of 2002, Nick Jr. altered the format of its commercial breaks, resulting in the removal of older network IDs dating back to 1994. Beginning on January 10, 2003, Dora the Explorer and Blue's Clues were placed in Nick Jr.'s "Play Along Time" sub-block. On April 7, the day that sister network Noggin rebranded and introduced mascots Moose and Zee, Nick Jr. aired some of Noggin's new original series as a cross-promotion; British program Rubbadubbers premiered on September 2. Nick Jr. continued to air Tweenies from July to September 25.
On September 12, 2003, the original Face interstitials ended their almost 9-year run.
Play Along (2003–04)
On, Nick Jr. received a rebrand that introduced more than a dozen new logos. A new interstitial series called Nick Jr. Play Along was introduced, hosted by two live-action hosts: Robin and Zack. Along with Robin and Zack were two sock puppets called the Feetbeats. Face was given a brand new look which added eyebrows and a chin and straightened his eyes by inverting their colors from white dots on black eyes to actual-looking eyes, and was voiced by Nick on CBS announcer Babi Floyd. The new Face promos were produced by Virtual Persuasion. On the same day, Nick Jr. also began to use split-screen credits for most shows, while Dora the Explorer and Blue's Clues would still play normal end credits. These two shows were later excluded from this format of credits since three years later on December 11. Starting the following year in September, Nick Jr. used a new on-screen bug to promote its website until two years later on February 28.On October 8, 2004, the new Face interstitials ended their 1-year run alongside most of Nick Jr.'s older interstitial series.
Love to Play! (2004–07)
On, Nick Jr. received another rebrand containing interstitials co-produced with Little Airplane Productions featuring the block's new mascot Piper O'Possum, and the new slogan "Love to Play!". Nick Jr.'s female announcer was replaced with Kobie Powell and Chris Phillips. LazyTown, Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends, Blue's Room, and The Backyardigans premiered on Nick Jr. Nick Jr.'s commercial limit increased to 8 minutes per hour, and the block began airing more interstitials that were clips from its shows. Dora the Explorer spin-off Go, Diego, Go! premiered, whilst Wonder Pets! and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! debuted the following year. Yo Gabba Gabba! debuted the following year, and was the only Nick Jr. series to premiere that year.On September 7, 2007, the Piper O'Possum interstitials ended their almost 3-year run.
Play Date (2007–09)
On, Nick Jr. received another rebrand nicknamed Nick Jr. Play Date. A new slogan, Play with Us!, was also included. The bumpers encouraged preschoolers to play along and featured the Nick Jr. logo in the form of two stop-motion plushies. This marked the first time that Nick Jr. had no mascot since 13 years. 5 months later on February 18, the March '06 on-screen bugs were replaced with three new bugs reflecting the branding. Nick Jr. began its broadcast at 8:30 am starting the following week.On January 30, 2009, the Play Date interstitials ended their 1.5-year run.
Nickelodeon rebranding (2009–14)
On, the Nick Jr. block rebranded as Nickelodeon Play Date, as part of an effort to unite the Nickelodeon channel's programs under a single brand. The block's commercial limit increased again to 10 minutes per hour. NickJr.com continued to use the Nick Jr. brand name to categorize all of Nickelodeon's preschool programming. The block initially retained the previous branding, alongside new branding designed by Melinda Beck, and many bumpers featured drawings, finger puppets or cupcakes. The bumpers' music was a choir of kids vocalizing, and Nicolette Pierini was the announcer of each bumper. The Nickelodeon splat logo was edited onto the block's split-screen credits design and interstitials predating the previous branding. Starting on June 29 of that year, the split-screen credits were replaced to match the new branding, officially retiring the previous branding. On September 28 of that year, the Nick Jr. channel was launched, replacing Noggin.In 2011, Nickelodeon Play Date received a new rebrand featuring characters from the block's shows. That same year, Nickelodeon Play Date stopped using the branding’s split-screen credits and started using Nickelodeon's split-screen credits design. The following year, the Play Date branding was replaced with a modified version of the Nick Jr. channel's new branding known as Nick: The Smart Place to Play, and the block stopped airing most interstitials. Despite Nickelodeon displaying its shows' credits during the last 30 seconds before it, the branding retained the split-screen credits for Nick Jr. shows airing on the block until.