'Nick’ Of Time For Rebrand
N, Noggin To Adopt Parent Net’s Family Name
by R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 3/2/2009 2:00:00 AM
Nickelodeon wants to give its offspring channels The N and Noggin the family name.
In an effort to strengthen the already venerable kids and family-oriented Nickelodeon brand, Nick will rename its toddler-targeted Noggin network as Nick Jr. and its teen-tinged The N service as TeenNick later this year.
The two services will join Nick at Nite and Nicktoons under the Nickelodeon-branded umbrella of networks. Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group president Cyma Zarghami said the rebranding effort — along with its strong online presence from acquired gaming service AddictingGames and youth-oriented virtual community Neopets — is part of the programmer’s effort to establish the nearly 30-year old Nickelodeon brand as the pre-eminent multimedia brand for toddlers, tweens, teens and their parents.
“With the first generation of Nickelodeon viewers now Nickelodeon parents, we have an opportunity to wrap our arms around the first generation of Nick families,” Zarghami said. “The growth that we’ve seen says that we’re not cannibalizing any part of our business for another, but we’re growing the whole.”
The move comes as Nickelodeon aggressively battles The Walt Disney Co.’s Disney Channel and ABC Family, as well as Turner Broadcasting System’s Cartoon Network, for the hearts and minds of kids and their parents.
But Katz Television Media Group vice president and director of programming Bill Carroll said the ability to connect various like services under one brand benefits both the parent Nickelodeon brand and the soon-to-be-renamed networks. The N airs original teen-targeted series such as Degrassi, while Noggin offers such Nickelodeon kids-oriented shows as Dora the Explorer.
“The N and Noggin are clever and cute names, but TeenNick and Nick Jr. say what both networks are,” he said. “Once you’ve established what Nickelodeon is, anyway you can extend that is a good thing for all parties involved.”
Not that The N and Noggin — which were split in 2007 after sharing time on the same channel — were struggling brands. Both networks set February viewership records among total viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The N and Noggin also set monthly viewership marks among their respective demos, teens 12 to 17 and kids 2 to 5.
Zarghami believes the addition of the Nick brand to both networks will further enhance their image and standing among viewers. “Over time, what I hope will happen is what the brand stands for in the consumer’s mind will start to shift a bit for the better,” she said.
As a result of the rebranding, the parent Nickelodeon channel will eliminate the Nick Jr. brand from its 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekday toddler-targeted programming block, as well as the Teen Nick brand from its Saturday night 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. content block. Zarghami said consumer tests revealed that the blocks had strong identities that actually overshadowed the overall Nickelodeon brand.
“When we asked people what were their favorite live-action shows, they would say iCarly on Teen Nick, not necessarily on Nickelodeon,” she said. “What we’re hoping will eventually come out of people’s mouths is that we love iCarly or Degrassi from Nickelodeon.”
From an advertising standpoint, Zarghami said the move could allow the network to create demo-based packages across several Nick channels, although the network is not currently offering any such packages in the marketplace.
“If you want to reach boys for example, there soon will be a day where we are able to say there are this many boys that watch SpongeBob [SquarePants] on Nickelodeon, this many boys that watch Nicktoons and there are this many boys who are using AddictingGames two hours a day,” she said. “Here’s a package of inventory that will allow you to maximize your reach against that particular audience.”
While boys-targeted Nicktoons and adult-oriented Nick at Nite will remain unchanged, Zarghami left the door open for a potential re-merging of Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite to better build co-viewing opportunities among kids and their parents. Though they share the same channel berth, Nick and Nick at Nite were split into two separate networks for Nielsen ratings purposes in 2004.
Nick has been successful in drawing more adult viewers with specials such as its annual Kids’ Choice Awards, while Nick at Nite acquisitions like The George Lopez Show and Family Matters have drawn younger viewers.
“I think absolutely, over time, we can explore that,” Zarghami said. Right now it doesn’t feel like the right moment because the audience for sales is so different that there are business reasons to leave them alone right now. But over time I think that’s something we can explore.”
Nick’s Sandbox
February* viewership for Nickelodeon-owned cable channels:
| Network | Total viewers |
| * Period from Jan. 26 – Feb. 24. Total day average. + Network record viewership for February SOURCE: Nielsen Media Research |
|
| Nick at Nite | 1.4 million |
| Nickelodeon | 2.2 million |
| Noggin | 529,000+ |
| The N | 210,000+ |
| Nicktoons | 128,000+ |
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This change is going to suck. It's going to be icarly, icarly, icarly, true jackson vp, drake and josh, all of which SUCK! And Nick Cannon is annoying. The N was always such a refreshment because it didn't involve the ridiculous, immature commercials Nickelodeon channels have. They just want to put their own idiotic shows on. And you watch: Degrassi, The Best Years, and What I Like About You will eventually stop airing because the themes aren't "appropriate" for pre-teens, who don't even watch it by the way! Say goodbye to Summerland and Beyond the Break; you'll never see those shows again. I'm a college graduate in my mid 20's and can speak for many others who watch The N: they WILL lose their viewers because their shows are too immature and no one watches them!
Annoyed As Hell - 9/24/2009 3:19:08 PM EDT -
I can't believe that they are trying to say they are marketing this towards teens. These shows are marketed towards preteens and younger. I hope when they do this they start showing shows that teenagers and early 20's will actually watch. Wake up these "teen" shows are boring for teens. The-N before all these changes WAS ACTUALLY FOR TEENS!!! Instead Nick wants to show there owns shows that really aren't that good. THey should really think about this before all their viewers that they haven't already lost with their horrible changes.
Really MAD - 7/17/2009 3:05:26 AM EDT
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