Noggin (app)

Noggin is an American edutainment brand that was first introduced on February 2, 1999. Co-founded by MTV Networks (now Paramount Media Networks; owners of Nickelodeon) and Sesame Workshop, it started out as a cable television channel (which was later discontinued on September 28, 2009) and a website, both centered around the concepts of imagination, creativity, and education. From 2015 to 2024, Noggin was a streaming service aimed at preschoolers.

In Noggin's first three years, it was mainly aimed at pre-teens and teenagers. One of Noggin's goals was to disprove the idea "that educational programming is not entertaining enough to attract pre-teens and young adults." It only aired preschool shows in the morning and devoted the rest of its schedule to tween and teen shows. In April 2002, Noggin extended its preschool block to last for 12 hours, airing from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, and the teen block ran from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. The teen block was given a new name, "The N," to distinguish itself from the preschool block. The shows that made up Noggin's original older-skewing lineup aired exclusively during The N from 2002 onward.

Sesame Workshop eventually sold its stake in Noggin to Viacom in August 2002 but continued to co-produce shows for Noggin until 2009. The original Noggin channel closed on September 28, 2009, and the brand was dormant until 2015, when Viacom was announced that Noggin would relaunch as a streaming service. The service launched on March 5, 2015. In 2020, the Noggin streaming service began producing its own exclusive shows, The service was later shut down on July 2, 2024.

Creation

Noggin's creation dates back to 1995, when Sesame Workshop (then known as the Children's Television Workshop) planned to start an educational cable channel called "New Kid City." ''The Los Angeles Times'' reported that "launching its own channel is the only way to ensure a home for its highly acclaimed shows, which are often passed over by networks in favor of more commercially successful fare." Meanwhile, Nickelodeon (part of MTV Networks) planned its own educational channel called "Big Orange." When the two companies learned of each other's ideas, they partnered to create a channel together.

The channel was named Noggin (a slang term for a person's head), reflecting its purpose: to encourage kids to think, discover new things, and use their imaginations. When it started, Noggin was mostly aimed at kids aged 6–12. Its main goal was to provide "fun shows that help kids learn and inspire their curiosity – all without feeling like they're in school." Noggin's core values included the statements: "Kids want to learn. Kids are naturally curious. There are no stupid questions."

Brand elements

Logo and branding

From 1999 to 2009, and from 2015 to 2019, Noggin used the same logo: the bottom half of a smiling cartoon face. The logo's upper half featured different icons that represented topics the head was "thinking of" (such as a beaker to reflect science, or flowers to reflect springtime). Hundreds of different "toppers" were designed for the logo. For its first few years, Noggin often captioned its logo with the slogan "What sparks you?" It also aired videos of kids and teens responding to the question, explaining their favorite topics that "spark" their imaginations.

Noggin's logo was featured in a large amount of original shorts and animations that ran between shows on the channel. In its early years, Noggin's creative team hired "sick and twisted" independent animators to create station ID commercials, hoping that they could each bring their own personal design elements to the logo. The goal was to make the logo "look unlike any other network" and inspire kids' creativity. In 2019, the original Noggin face logo was retired for the first time in 20 years; it was replaced with a lowercase ''noggin'' wordmark written in purple.

Television channel

The first service established under Noggin was a cable TV channel. It operated from February 2, 1999, until September 27, 2009. When it started, the channel mainly showed reruns from Sesame Workshop and Nickelodeon's libraries. Noggin was originally aimed at pre-teens, since Noggin's creative team felt that this age group was "underserved when it comes to new, quality educational television." The Noggin channel was commercial-free and allowed teachers to tape its programs for use in the classroom.

Noggin's original lineup included classic episodes of ''The Electric Company'', ''3-2-1 Contact'', '' Cro'', '' Square One Television'', and ''Ghostwriter'' from Sesame Workshop's library. It also included series like '' Wild Side Show'', '' Nick News'', and '' Doug'' from Nickelodeon's library. From 2000 to 2002, Noggin aired reruns of the science show '' Bill Nye the Science Guy''. Bill Nye also starred in brand-new segments made specially for Noggin, where he played the role of Noggin's "head sparkologist" and tried to find out what topics sparked viewers' imaginations.

Noggin's first original show was '' Phred on Your Head Show'', which featured an animated host named Phred. A second original series, '' A Walk in Your Shoes'', premiered in October 1999. Each episode of ''A Walk in Your Shoes'' followed two different people "switching lives" to better understand each other's cultures. In 2000, Noggin introduced three series of shorts that aired during program breaks: ''Me in a Box'', which showed kids making dioramas to represent their personalities; ''Citizen Phoebe'', about a girl who wants to run for president; and '' Oobi'', a preschool series about bare-hand puppets.

By 2001, original content made up 40% of Noggin's schedule. That year, Noggin premiered four new shows: '' Big Kids'', a British-American co-production; '' On the Team'', a documentary about a Little League baseball team; '' Sponk!'', a game show centered around improv acting; and '' The URL with Phred Show'', which showcased viewers' submissions to the Noggin website. On April 1, 2002, the channel was reorganized into two blocks: a daytime block for preschoolers and a nighttime block, The N, for teens. '' Play with Me Sesame'', a new series featuring ''Sesame Street'' characters, debuted on the same day.

Sesame Workshop continued to co-produce shows for Noggin through 2009, most notably '' Out There'' and '' The Upside Down Show'', two live-action series. Both shows were developed by Sesame Workshop's writers in New York and filmed by a multinational team in Australia. The Noggin brand was placed on a six-year hiatus from 2009 to 2015; on September 28, 2009, its channel space was taken over by a 24-hour channel based on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block.

The N

The N (standing for Noggin) was an overnight programming block on the Noggin channel, aimed at older kids and teenagers. It premiered on April 1, 2002, and aired until December 31, 2007 (May 6, 2009 on Dish). Promotions advertised the block as "The N: The New Name for Nighttime on Noggin." It took several months for Noggin to choose the right name for the block; as reported by ''Kidscreen'' in 2002, they needed a name to "help distance and distinguish the tween programming from the preschool fare," but the legal department also required the block to maintain a relation to Noggin's main name.

Noggin's preexisting tween-targeted shows—like ''A Walk in Your Shoes'' and ''Sponk!''—only aired during The N from 2002 onward. Noggin produced several original series for the block, including the animated comedy ''O'Grady'', the drama '' South of Nowhere'', and the competition show '' Girls v. Boys''. The N was also the U.S. broadcast home of the Canadian series '' Degrassi: The Next Generation''. Noggin aimed to promote a variety of life skills through the shows on The N, including self-respect, constructive thinking, and tolerance of diversity.

Like the rest of Noggin, The N's shows were created with educational goals, which was uncommon for teen programming at the time. The block was managed by the same team that made Noggin's preschool shows. The team considered it a challenge to focus on both preschoolers and an older audience, but because both focused on educational shows with valuable life lessons, they felt Noggin and The N had a "unified brand identity." From 2007 to 2009, the block was moved from Noggin to a new channel. The channel carried TEENick programming throughout the day and relegated The N's content to a block at night, similar to The N's structure before it spun off from Noggin.

On September 28, 2009, TEENick and The N merged to form a new channel known as TeenNick. TeenNick launched in the channel space of Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids, which had shut down after The N became a 24-hour channel, and was replaced with Cartoon Network two years later on Dish Network’s West feed. According to ''Polygon'', "Nickelodeon began phasing out The N's programming and replacing it with TEENick, an entertainment block with no educational curriculum and zero involvement from Noggin. The N lost its footing by 2009, and both he Nand its website closed down completely."

Streaming service

On February 25, 2015, Viacom announced that it would revive the Noggin brand (and logo) with a mobile subscription service aimed at preschoolers that launched on March 5, 2015. Since its launch, it included older shows from Noggin's time as a cable channel until 2020, when Noggin began to make new shows for the service. These included an exercise show called ''Yoga Friends'' and a cooking show called ''School of Yum''. '' Kinderwood'', an animated series about five classmates at a magical school, premiered on Noggin in 2020. In 2021, the service introduced a half-hour educational show called '' Noggin Knows'' and a series of shorts called ''The Noggins'', which featured teal-colored mascots called Noggins.

The Noggin streaming service would expand into international markets, starting with the rollout of a Spanish-language version that launched in Latin America in November 2015. This version included some shows that were not available on the English-language service, including the Spanish dub of ''Rugrats''. A Portuguese version was released on November 21, 2015. On September 21, 2020, it was announced that versions of Noggin would launch in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Austria as an add-on to Amazon Prime Video. The UK version of Noggin replaced the More Milkshake! SVOD service, with the name transitioning over as a section on the service.

On February 13, 2024, SpongieUpdates first reported that Paramount Global laid off the entire working team at Noggin. 2 days later, Kidscreen and corporate owner Paramount Global later announced that the Noggin streaming service would shut down in the coming months as a result in the immediate layoff of Noggin's staff before the announcement, which meant that Noggin will no longer get any more subscribers, along with a transition period for current subscribers. On May 2, a Noggin email was sent to customers that states that the Noggin service will shut down on July 2, 2024. Customers who are still subscribed to Noggin will no longer be billed after May 30. The platform was shut down on July 2, with all billing stopping by May 30 at the latest. Some of Noggin's library was moved to Paramount+ under the Nick Jr. brand. Note that Paramount had already discontinued the apps for Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., MTV, Comedy Central, Showtime, and Paramount Network in January in order to direct users to Paramount+, although this did not include CBS' app along with its news and sports divisions.

Mascots

Throughout its history, Noggin has featured unique cartoon characters who act as the hosts and mascots of the brand. During Noggin's time as a cable channel, these mascots often appeared during program breaks to introduce shows. Noggin has had the following mascots:

*Phred (1999–2002) – A small green creature (voiced by Doug Preis) who was Noggin's first mascot. He talked in a New York accent and liked to make jokes. He interacted with live-action guests by hopping on top of their heads and talking to them.
*Feetface (2002–03) – This mascot (voiced by Jessica DiCicco), shaped like a circular face with legs, hosted Noggin's preschool block from April 2002 to April 2003.
* Moose and Zee (2003–09; 2015–2019) – A talking yellow moose (voiced by Paul Christie) and a mute blue bird, who hosted Noggin's preschool block from April 2003 onward. When Noggin became Nick Jr. on September 28, 2009, they remained as hosts until March 1, 2012. In 2015, Moose and Zee returned as the hosts of the Noggin app, and they appeared in new content for Noggin until 2019.
*The Alpha Teens (2004–05; The N) – The N's first mascots. A group of high schoolers drawn in a comic book style. They first appeared on The N block in 2004. They introduced the shows on The N's schedule.
*The Noggins (2021–24) – A group of short, teal-colored creatures with purple eyes, who have appeared as mascots on the Noggin streaming service since 2021. They would remain as the hosts until 2024, when the Noggin service was shuttered.

Spin-off media

Websites

The Noggin channel launched along with an interactive website, Noggin.com, which was first active from 1999 until 2009, and was later active again in 2015. The website originally featured games, blogs, printables, and fact sheets. The website was integrated into many of Noggin's earlier shows, like '' Sponk!'' and '' The URL with Phred Show'', which featured viewer-submitted questions and artwork from Noggin.com. Throughout 2000, Bill Nye of '' Bill Nye the Science Guy'' answered questions asked by Noggin.com users between airings of his show on the channel. In 2001, Noggin launched "Chattervision", which allowed viewers to comment on different shows online and see their conversations appear live on TV.

One of the website's first games was the "Noggimation Station," which taught visitors about the animation process and allowed them to design their own animations, some of which were chosen to air on TV. Another website, called MyNoggin.com, was launched in October 2007. It was a subscription-based site that offered educational games and allowed parents to track their child's progress in different subjects. After the shut down of the Noggin service, a message was added to the website reading "NOGGIN HAS SHUT DOWN." and "Find your child's favorite preschool shows and watch movies, originals, and more all on Paramount+.”. It remained on there until October 3, 2024, when the website was changed to a green version of Noggin's 1999 logo and a message saying "Rebooting...".

Blocks on other channels

Blocks based on Noggin have appeared on other channels. TV Land aired a one-night Noggin special on April 26, 1999. Spanning two hours, the special featured reruns of ''The Electric Company'', along with animated shorts featuring the Noggin logo. Noggin shows were also occasionally seen on the main Nickelodeon channel. On June 6, 1999, Nickelodeon ran the first episode of Noggin's ''Phred on Your Head Show''.

On March 27, 2000, Nickelodeon introduced a half-hour block of Noggin shows that aired every weekday morning until June 2001. The block was originally titled "Noggins Up" and became "Noggin on Nickelodeon" during its second year on the air. It showcased one tween-oriented program every weekday, including ''A Walk In Your Shoes'' and ''On the Team''. The block attracted thousands of visitors to the Noggin.com site. Nickelodeon revived the block for a single day on April 7, 2003. Following the block's removal, premiere episodes of Noggin series were often simulcast on Nickelodeon and Noggin.

The Noggin name was used for an otherwise unrelated programming block on Nick Jr. UK from May 2004 until September 2005. It ran for two hours every night and included reruns of older British television series for children. On January 30, 2006, Noggin was launched as a block on TMF in the United Kingdom, this time in the style of the US Noggin. It ran every weekday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Noggin continued for a short time on TMF's successor, VIVA, until March 2010.

From May 2021 to March 2022, the Nick Jr. Channel aired an hour-long block of programming from the Noggin streaming service every Friday. The block, titled "Noggin Hour," featured shows such as '' Noggin Knows'' and '' Kinderwood'', as well as the acquired series ''Hey Duggee'' and '' JoJo & Gran Gran''. Noggin interstitials played during commercial breaks, and a purple screen bug reading "On Noggin" was shown toward the beginning of each show.

Live events

Noggin held live events to promote its shows. At the 2001 North American Trade Show in Minnesota, Noggin presented a replica of the set from ''Oobi''. In spring 2002, Noggin launched a live version of its ''Play with Me Sesame'' series, featuring mascot characters and music from the show. In May 2002, the Jillian's restaurant chain offered "Noggin Play Days" each Wednesday afternoon, where attendees could watch a live feed of Noggin with themed activities and meals.

In March 2004, Noggin partnered with GGP shopping malls to host a free arts-and-crafts program called Club Noggin. It debuted at five malls in April of the same year. Attendance at the first few events exceeded expectations, leading GGP to bring Club Noggin to over 100 malls across the United States. The monthly events were hosted by trained YMCA leaders, who offered crafts and activities based on Noggin characters. Each meeting was themed around a different Noggin show.

From October 2005 until late 2006, Noggin sponsored a music festival called "Jamarama Live", which toured the United States. The tour had performances from Laurie Berkner, a musician on ''Jack's Big Music Show''. It also had appearances from a mascot costume of Moose A. Moose. Reviewers for ''Time'' Magazine compared Jamarama to a family-friendly version of Lollapalooza.

In November 2005, a Noggin float appeared at America's Thanksgiving Parade. In November 2006, Noggin hosted an online charity auction on its website, called the "Noggin Auction." Viewers could bid on props from different Noggin shows. Noggin also auctioned off props from The N's teen shows, with the money going to homeless shelters. In August 2007, Noggin partnered with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and sponsored its annual Trike-A-Thon program.

See also

* List of programs broadcast by Noggin

References

External links

*

Noggin description
(archive)

{{Portal bar, Television, United States, Companies, 1990s

Noggin (brand)
1999 establishments in New York (state)
2009 disestablishments in New York (state)
Television channels and stations established in 1999
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2009
Internet properties established in 2015
Internet properties disestablished in 2024
Preschool education television networks
Children's television networks in the United States
Defunct subscription services
Defunct video on demand services
Entertainment companies based in New York City
Internet television channels
Internet television streaming services
Subscription video on demand services
Nickelodeon
Sesame Workshop
Paramount Streaming
The Jim Henson Company
Webby Award winners
American companies established in 1999
American companies disestablished in 2009
Re-established companies
American companies disestablished in 2024
Mass media companies established in 1999
Mass media companies disestablished in 2024