Noggin is a TV brand. It was first launched in 1999 as a cable channel co-owned by Sesame Workshop and MTV Networks (the owners of Nickelodeon). It was advertised as a "thinking channel," and its shows were meant to inspire imagination and creativity. It was mainly aimed at tweens and teens when it started, and it also carried an early-morning block for preschoolers and a nighttime block for "retro" shows.
In 2002, Noggin discarded its retro block, and it extended its preschool and teen blocks to each last 12 hours per day. The daytime block was for preschoolers and the teen block was renamed The N (standing for Noggin). The original Noggin channel closed in 2009, and the brand was dormant until 2015 with the release of the Noggin streaming app. Since then, the Noggin name has been used exclusively for the streaming service.
Mission
Noggin's mission was to "make fun educational" by inspiring imagination, creativity, and spontaneity. In its early years, Noggin partnered with many experimental indie animators to create commercials featuring the Noggin logo. These usually had stop-motion and mixed-media looks to them, and they were intentionally surreal and abstract.
Noggin's on-air continuity became more "clean" and less experimental after it switched its daytime block to focus on preschool shows in 2002. The "indie" side of Noggin shifted to the nighttime block, The N, which catered to the original audience of older viewers.
History
Origins (1995-1998)
The ideas that formed Noggin started in 1995. In this year, both Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop planned to create their own educational channels. Nickelodeon's idea was called Big Orange, and Sesame's idea was called New Kid City. Neither channel's development was ever finalized.
In 1997, Nickelodeon decided to retool Big Orange into a four-hour syndication package instead of an entire channel. It was renamed "Noggin" after a slang term for the head, reflecting its educational purpose. Nickelodeon filmed an original pilot episode to demonstrate the concept of Noggin, but the syndication package never finalized or aired on TV, either.
In 1998, Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop entered a partnership. They decided to merge their ideas into one channel, Noggin. Instead of a syndication package, the finalized Noggin channel was a 24-hour cable network, like the plans for Big Orange and New Kid City originally were.
Original era (1999-2002)
Noggin was launched on TV on February 2, 1999. It showed series from Sesame Workshop and Nickelodeon's libraries. Its main target audience was originally pre-teens and teenagers, with preschool-oriented shows only airing in an early morning block. There was also a "retro" nighttime block that aired reruns of classic educational series.
From June 1999 to April 2002, Noggin's host was a green animated character named Phred. He hosted two variety shows: Phred on Your Head Show and The URL with Phred Show. Noggin's earlier original shows were often short-form series or started out as short-form before becoming half-hour shows. These included A Walk in Your Shoes, The Whooton Observer, Oobi, Me in a Box, and Citizen Phoebe.
By 2000, Noggin branched into long-form programming. It made a game show called Sponk!, a sports documentary called On the Team, and a British-American co-production called Big Kids. Many of these shows were previewed on the main Nickelodeon channel as part of a block called Noggin on Nick.
Preschool/The N era (2002-2009)
In April 2002, Noggin discarded its "adult retro" block, and it extended its preschool and teen blocks to last 12 hours each. The preschool daytime block carried original shows and reruns of existing preschool shows. The teen block, now renamed "The N," aired most of the older-skewing shows from Noggin's original audience of tweens and teens.
From April 2002 to April 2003, the preschool block was hosted by a blue icon named Feetface. During Feetface's run, only two original shows aired during the day: Play With Me Sesame and Oobi (all other shows were reruns). In April 2003, the block was given an updated visual style and introduced two new hosts: Moose and Zee. Two new shows were created specifically for the block, Jack's Big Music Show and The Upside Down Show.
The N block's original shows were made by the same creative team as the daytime block series. Out There was made by Sesame Workshop. Girls v. Boys was by the same studios that made A Walk in Your Shoes. The N featured a fully-animated comedy called O'Grady; a drama called South of Nowhere; and a variety of one-season miniseries like LOL with The N, Real Access, and Miracle's Boys.
In August 2002, Sesame Workshop sold its 50% stake in Noggin, making it fully owned by MTV Networks. Sesame Workshop continued a co-production agreement with Noggin for several years afterward, leading to co-productions like Out There and The Upside Down Show. In September 2009, the Noggin channel was replaced with a 24-hour version of Nickelodeon's long-running Nick Jr. block; Noggin was eventually revived in 2015 as a streaming app.
App era (2015-present)
The Noggin brand was dormant from 2009 until 2015, when Nickelodeon announced that Noggin would be "coming back" as a mobile streaming app (simply known as the Noggin app). The app launched on March 5, 2015. It brought back Noggin's logo, branding, and music from the preschool block. Moose and Zee hosted the app for four years, and it featured three original shows from Noggin: Oobi, Jack's Big Music Show, and The Upside Down Show.
In 2019, the app was retooled and given a new logo, ending the run of Noggin's first logo after 20 years. Moose and Zee stopped hosting the app in 2019, and in March 2020, the Noggin original shows were removed. Similarly to the Noggin channel itself, the app has become overtaken by imported shows from foreign producers and the Nick Jr. lineup.
Branches
- The Hubbub - Noggin's first primetime block.
- The N - Noggin's nighttime programming block for teenagers. Despite the different demographics, The N's original shows were all produced by Noggin LLC. When The N was introduced, some of the older-skewing shows that previously aired on the daytime block started airing during The N instead.
- Noggin.com - A website for the brand. It was launched in 1999 as an online portal for Noggin's viewers. It featured games, videos, and many exclusive activities featuring unique characters and worlds. It was relaunched as a guide to the Noggin app in 2015.
- Noggin app - A mobile subscription app, launched in 2015. The app included some of Noggin's old shows in 2015, but as of 2020, they have all been removed. The app is currently only Noggin "in name only" and doesn't feature any of the original branding.
- Noggin on Nick - A block of Noggin shows that aired on the main Nickelodeon channel.
- Noggin on TMF - A block that aired on TMF in the United Kingdom.
Series
Noggin aired a wide variety of different shows, which fit into five categories:
- Original series - Shows made specifically by and for Noggin.
- Nickelodeon library - Reruns of shows from Nickelodeon's archives.
- Sesame Workshop library - Reruns of shows from Sesame Workshop's archives.
- Package series - Collections of pre-existing footage from both archives.
- Acquired series - Shows acquired from outside companies, which Noggin aired but didn't produce.
Links
- Nickelodeon's description of Noggin
- Archive of SesameWorkshop.org (features Noggin in the navigation bar)