New Educational Channel for Kids Called Noggin Launches

Posted on April 29, 1998

Nickelodeon and Children's Television Workshop announced a joint venture to launch the an educational television network for kids, called Noggin. The announcement was made by Herb Scannell, President of Nickelodeon, and David Britt, President and Chief Executive Officer, Children's Television Workshop, at a press conference in New York.

The new partners said Noggin will be dedicated to educating and entertaining kids between the ages of 2 and 14, and will aim to nurture their natural love for learning, through innovative educational programming. The 24-hour channel will include new programming designed for both preschoolers (ages 2-5) and older children (6-14), and will also draw from the extensive libraries of both CTW and Nickelodeon.

The Noggin program schedule will include the partners' signature educational series Sesame Street and Blue's Clues, plus award-winning programs Electric Company, 3-2-1 Contact and Ghostwriter from CTW, and Gullah Gullah Island and Nick News from Nickelodeon. First-run episodes of Blue's Clues and Sesame Street will continue to be broadcast by Nickelodeon and PBS, respectively.

The channel will be complemented by an interactive component, through a dynamic Noggin website, designed for information, communication and activities for kids, their parents and teachers. The website will feature original content related to Noggin's on-air programming, as well as content already created by CTW and Nickelodeon to complement their educational series.

Noggin will operate as a separate company located at Nickelodeon's New York headquarters. It will be a joint venture governed by a management committee comprising an equal number of members from Nickelodeon and CTW. Day-to-day operations will be the responsibility of a chief executive officer appointed by the management committee, expected to be announced shortly.