What Was The N?
The N was a Nickelodeon brand that existed between 2002 and 2009, focusing on teenage audiences. It was first introduced as a nighttime programming block on Noggin, before gaining its own 24-hour network at the end of 2007.
Back when Noggin launched in 1999, its primary audience was pre-teens and teenagers - much like its parent channel Nickelodeon. By 2001, the channel had produced a lineup of original series that targeted this demographic, such as A Walk in Your Shoes, Big Kids, Phred on Your Head Show, Sponk!, and The URL with Phred Show.
However, an April 2002 shift in direction saw Noggin split its programming between 12-hour blocks. With the change, Noggin's daytime schedule (between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily) focused squarely on preschoolers, with a mixture of Nick Jr. series, newer originals, and acquired content.
As for Noggin's older-skewing programs, those were moved over to their nighttime schedule (6 p.m. to 6 a.m.), now branded as The N. Other shows on the lineup included the foreign series 24Seven, Being Eve, and Degrassi: The Next Generation, plus reruns of Nickelodeon's The Adventures of Pete and Pete and Clarissa Explains It All.
In the coming years, The N began acquiring more off-network programming, such as Daria (which came from sister network MTV), The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Laguna Beach (another MTV original), Moesha, and Saved by the Bell.
Original content was also commissioned, either independently (The Assistants, Best Friend's Date, LOL with The N, Miracle's Boys, O'Grady, Out There, Real Access in The N, South of Nowhere) or with the assistance of other countries and networks (About a Girl, Degrassi, Instant Star, Radio Free Roscoe).
In August 2007, Nickelodeon announced that it would be shutting down its Games and Sports spin-off channel by the end of the year, with The N becoming a standalone network in the former’s place. The move took place on December 31, 2007 on most TV providers. Dish Network, for unknown reasons, continued an automated loop of GaS for nearly two years, before it was finally shuttered in April 2009. During that time, The N continued to share space with Noggin.
Upon gaining its own channel, The N added several shows from Nickelodeon’s ”TEENick” block to fill in extra programming hours. Eventually, in March 2009, Nickelodeon announced that The N would merge with TEENick to form a single teen-oriented channel: TeenNick.
The N came to an end on September 28, 2009, relaunching as TeenNick at 6 a.m. the same day. Very few shows from The N were carried over to the new channel; the last vestige of the brand’s history, Degrassi, concluded in August 2015.
