What is Noggin? (Part 2)
In January 2002, reports surfaced that the Noggin channel would relaunch to attract more tween and teenage viewers. As a result, preschool programming would expand to occupy most of the daytime lineup (between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.) while tween- and teen-oriented fare rounded out the day. Further details were unveiled by Noggin's general manager Tom Ascheim in March, before the relaunch went into effect on April 1.
The nighttime lineup eventually became The N, carrying a mixture of originals, imported series, and reruns of Noggin's and Nickelodeon's older-skewing programs. (You can read my article on The N here!)
As for daytime Noggin, not much changed, as most of the channel's lineup beforehand consisted of preschool series. One new series did premiere on the day of the relaunch — Play with Me Sesame, a joint production of Sesame Workshop and Nickelodeon Digital. Rounding out SW's contributions to the preschool lineup was the syndication package 123 Sesame Street and Tiny Planets, a series first produced for the UK's CITV. Meanwhile, Nickelodeon's preschool series included Allegra's Window, Blue's Clues, Franklin, Gullah Gullah Island, Kipper, and Little Bear.
Due to a mixture of debt and curiosity at working with other broadcasters, Sesame Workshop sold its share in Noggin and The N to Viacom in August. Fortunately, the two companies entered a multi-year production deal, allowing for more Sesame-produced series to appear on both blocks in the future.
Sesame's departure also occurred when Noggin executives began exploring ways to improve the block's format. After touring several schools in the New York area, they decided on modeling daytime Noggin after a preschool environment, complete with wraparound segments mimicking snacktime and storytime, bumpers rendered to look like children's art, and on-air "teachers" in the form of Moose and Zee.
More series flowed into Noggin's preschool block over the next four years, including the musical puppetry show Jack's Big Music Show, the Sesame co-produced series Pinky Dinky Doo and The Upside Down Show, and a bevy of newer Nick Jr. content. Programming was also energized by a rotating theme every month, like "Get Ready to Read," "Winter is a Wonderland," and "Let's Take a Trip." It's pretty impressive how something as simple as a 12-hour block could fit in such innovative and compelling content, especially in an era where the only long-form outlet for toddlers on cable was the newly-launched PBS Kids Sprout.
But just five years after Noggin and The N's timesharing format was established, Viacom announced that the two blocks would become individual 24-hour channels by the end of 2007. The split took place on December 31; at 6 a.m., The N took over the channel space formerly inhabited by Nickelodeon Games and Sports, while Noggin celebrated its renewed 24/7 status with a movie marathon later that evening.
