TeenNick
TeenNick is an American pay-TV channel that is operated by the ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks division of ViacomCBS aimed primarily at teenagers aged 13–19.
The channel began as The N, a late-night programming block on Noggin that launched on April 1, 2002. On December 31, 2007, The N became its own 24-hour channel, replacing the channel space held by Nick GAS. On September 28, 2009, The N adapted its current name, taken from the former TEENick programming block, which aired on parent channel Nickelodeon from March 4, 2001 to February 1, 2009.
As of February 2015, TeenNick is available to approximately 72.3 million pay-TV households in the United States.
History
TEENick (2001-2009)
TEENICK was a teen-oriented television programming block that aired on Nickelodeon. The block launched on March 4, 2001 and lasted until September 28, 2009. TEENick aired on Sunday nights from 6 to 9 p.m. ET/PT. In 2005, it was rebroadcast on Saturday from 8 to 10 p.m. ET/PT. Saturday night editions were broadcast as "TEENick Saturday Night" until 2007 where it rebranded as "TEENick" for both broadcasts. The inaugural host was Nick Cannon, followed by Jason Everhart.The N (2002–09)
TeenNick originally debuted on April 1, 2002 as a nighttime programming block on Noggin called The N. Similarly to the shared-time format of Nickelodeon, and Nick at Nite, Noggin and The N aired their respective programming over the repeat channel space and in a block format: The N ran from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. ET while Noggin ran from 6:00 a.m to 6:00 p.m. ET 7 nights a week. This was acknowledged in The N's daily sign-off message, which announced that The N would resume its programming at 6:00 p.m. ET later that day.MTV Networks started developing the concept of The N in 2002. From its launch, The N targeted an older audience than Noggin and was more entertainment-based in nature compared to Noggin's educational format.
In October 2006, Viacom bought the quiz website Quizilla, and later integrated it with The N's internet properties.
TEENick and The N had a programming block called TEENick on The N. It aired on January 16, 2007, and until May 12, 2007, but then returned on March 1, 2008. The block included shows such as All That, The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Unfabulous, Mr. Meaty, Zoey 101, , My Life as a Teenage Robot, and All Grown Up!. On August 3, 2009, TEENick was dropped from The N again.
As a 24-hour channel
On August 13, 2007, Nickelodeon announced that it would shut down sister channel Nick GAS on December 31, 2007, turning it into an online-only service on TurboNick, with The N becoming its own 24-hour channel that would take over Nick GAS's channel space. Noggin's final sign on was a sudden cut-in to a curriculum board for the UK-imported series 64 Zoo Lane. However, for unknown reasons, Dish Network continued to carry Nick GAS on its actual channel slot, with The N continuing to timeshare with Noggin on the satellite provider until April 23, 2009, when Dish replaced Nick GAS with the Pacific Time Zone feed of Turner Broadcasting System's Cartoon Network. Dish Network began to carry The N and Noggin as separate channels on May 6, 2009.Relaunch as TeenNick (2009–present)
On July 18, 2009, Nickelodeon announced that The N was to be rebranded as TeenNick to bring the channel in line with the Nickelodeon brand identity. On September 28, 2009, Nickelodeon unveiled the new standardized logo for the channel, that would also be extended to the other Nickelodeon channels, intending to create a unified look that could better be conveyed across the services.The channel relaunched as TeenNick on September 28, 2009, at 6 a.m. ET, accompanied by the debut of the new logo ; former sister channel Noggin was relaunched as Nick Jr. on that same date. Nick Cannon, who previously starred in the Nickelodeon series All That and The Nick Cannon Show, had a presence on the channel, appearing in network promotions, continuing to be associated in some way with the network until the cancellation of the TeenNick Top 10 in 2018. Nearly all of The N's existing program inventory was carried over to the relaunched channel, though most of the channel's original series were not carried over.
On February 1, 2010, TeenNick began incorporating music videos into its morning and afternoon schedule on a regular basis, airing between certain programs – and effectively reducing commercial breaks within programs where a music video is to be aired afterward from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET, same thing as Nickelodeon did with programs such as iCarly, Big Time Rush, Victorious, and How To Rock.
Despite the rebranding, some electronic program guide providers identify TeenNick as The N and display its 2007–2009 logo as that of TeenNick's current logo. In July 2011, TeenNick began carrying programs originally filmed for high definition broadcast in a letterboxed format, due to the absence of an HD simulcast feed of the channel. After Nicktoons and Nick Jr. launched HD services in 2013, TeenNick was the only Nickelodeon-branded network without an HD simulcast network until September 2016; this remains limited to IPTV providers and some cable company mobile and digital media player apps, such as that of the companies under the Spectrum branding.
Programming
As of 2019, second runs of Nickelodeon-produced series and specials, feature films, and acquired programs all broadcast in multi-hour blocks serve as the main programming on the network.Programming history
In its original programming era, TeenNick had somewhat lightened programming content standards than the rest of the Nickelodeon channels, though over time, TeenNick only had series picked up with less mature content airing as part of its schedule during the 2010s to date, compared to its program inventory prior to the 2009 rebrand –with shows incorporating such content primarily being limited to certain nighttime slots, though as mentioned above, Degrassi faced aggressive content policing from TeenNick, despite being produced for another broadcaster in another country, Canadian networks CTV and Much. By 2019, TeenNick de facto shared the same content standards as other Nickelodeon networks.Most of the programs that had been airing on The N remained on TeenNick, with some slight changes for scheduling purposes and possible new upcoming programming, including the re-acquisition of partial cable rights to the early 2000s sitcom, One on One, and a shift of Full House, which had formerly aired on Nick at Nite and began to air on the channel in August 2009, shortly before the conversion from The N to TeenNick. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, a longtime mainstay of The N, moved to TBS, Disney XD, and ABC Family in September 2009 upon the expiration of Viacom's rights to the series. On April 20, 2011, TeenNick announced that it had acquired the rights to air Buffy the Vampire Slayer starting in May, though this was short-lived and it returned to FX within a matter of months.
The amount of original programming on TeenNick fell precipitously over the 2010s, in stark contrast to its former name as The N. The final original program exclusive to the network, the music video countdown show TeenNick Top 10, was cancelled in 2018, commiserate with Viacom's new 'six prime networks' strategy effectively cutting out all but Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. from airing original children's series on their network spaces. TeenNick has produced one original series since their rebrand, the half-hour teen drama Gigantic, which ran from October 2010 to April 22, 2011. First-run episodes of series airing on TeenNick since then have been primarily in the form of Nickelodeon series that are burned off due to low ratings on the flagship channel, such as, in the recent past; Hollywood Heights, House of Anubis, Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures, and, most recently, Star Falls. Also, Alien Dawn, and foreign shows from international Nickelodeon networks which receive a minimum US run to fulfill contracts, such as Life with Boys, Dance Academy, , and Alien Surf Girls. As TeenNick has a high definition feed with very limited distribution, and is nearly exclusive to higher-cost digital cable tiers, ratings for those shows traditionally have a drastic fall with a move to TeenNick, alongside the network producing few promotions referring the transplanted programming.
On July 15, 2019, the network began to be broadcast in primetime with a mixture of content from MTV, including repeats of Teen Wolf and My Super Sweet Sixteen, and series which originated as YouTube Originals from recent Viacom acquisition AwesomenessTV. Season three of Hunter Street, initially meant for Nickelodeon, began to air on the channel on July 29, 2019. By the winter of 2019, regular Nickelodeon repeats had returned to the primetime lineup.