Nickelodeon To Air Kids Programming Via Freeview

Nickelodeon is to make its first inroads to the Freeview platform with a pre-school programming block on sister channel TMF later this month.

Airing between 7am and 9am the new programme strand will be dubbed “Noggin” and feature content from Nick Jr such as Thomas the Tank Engine and Dora the Explorer.

The move will make Nickelodeon the first commercial broadcaster to offer dedicated children’s channel on the Freeview platform, launching ahead of ITV’s CITV channel, which will take to the air on 11 February (see ITV Confirms February Launch For Kids Channel).

A report by Broadcast magazine claims that Nickelodeon, owned jointly by MTV and BSkyB, had planned to launch a children’s channel for the Freeview platform in partnership with ITV, although the channel, provisionally entitled INK, failed to materialise despite long-running negotiations.

“We have wanted a presence on Freeview for quite some time,” Howard Litton, Nickelodeon UK’s director of channels told Broadcast. “Like ITV, we see the opportunity because the BBC gets a disproportionate amount of viewers in Freeview homes.”

In addition to airing on Freeview, TMF will feature the Noggin strand across its broadcasts on satellite and cable platforms.

Nickelodeon: www.nickelodeon.co.uk