Back in November, I made a thread on Twitter to settle a neverending debate that the kids networks went downhill and responded that they never gotten worse, you just got older. Well, now I’m going to fully explain my thoughts (without worrying about character limits) on why Nickelodeon will never experience network decay.
Nickelodeon and other kids networks
Nickelodeon is best known as the first network for kids. It’s been called this way since it was first launched. What makes this channel special compared to Cartoon Network and Disney Channel is that they always put kids first, even during their worst moments. At worst, Nick just talks down to kids, which is evident for most of their 2010s works, while at their best, they often cater to kids in different ways while not alienating other demographics. Part of the main reason why Nick have a successful run for so long is that their shows have periphery fandoms. While most of their shows are aimed at kids aged 2-11, teenagers and adults can enjoy them. The biggest examples of this are SpongeBob, Rugrats, Hey Arnold, Rocko’s Modern Life, Invader Zim, the Avatar universe, The Loud House. At least from what TVTropes told me. Some preschool shows have periphery fandoms as well, especially from the parents. But it looks like no longer how long they outgrow, Blue’s Clues will always hold a special place in people’s hearts. A lot of the older live-action shows feel more for families rather than targeting kids. It wasn’t until sometimes around the mid-2000’s that their shows really started targeting towards the teen demographic, which may not interest the younger nor older viewers that much. However, shows like Drake & Josh, ICarly, Big Time Rush, and Victorious are one of the few Nick sitcoms in the 21st century to have a decent amount of adult fan base. And that is how Nick has managed to stay afloat for 4 decades. Compare that to Disney Channel and Cartoon Network's worst days - they abandoned their mission for a while before going back to their old roots.
The Side Channels
Nicktoons is one of the most consistent side channel Nick had for a while until they started playing live-action shows. They were often brief and didn’t take up half of the schedule at first. Only shows like The Troop and Supah Ninjas get a regular timeslot on Nicktoons and I don’t know why, but probably they match the action nature of Nicktoons’ current direction at the time. It wasn’t until 2015 that live-action programming would soon take over the channel. On the bright side, almost no one was watching during the morning hours which is where they aired the sitcoms. The rest of the day is still mostly dedicated to animation, but eventually we start to see more live-action programming during the middle of the day because we can’t have nice things. Luckily by January 2018, they were (almost) entirely gone from Nicktoons, aside from the occasional Henry Danger reruns. Now network decay is no more for Nicktoons for the rest of its existence, right? Wrong! By spring 2020, they didn’t learned from their past mistakes. For a short while, it became a semi-rerun farm for game shows, which were entirely removed a couple months later. But the schedulers gave up and basically let them air whatever currently airing on the main channel. Henry Danger and The Thundermans were the only live action shows with a consistent schedule on Nicktoons and this would last for a year and a half before they start dominating TeenNick. These days, while Nicktoons actually live up to its name, it never shows classic shows and instead airs nothing but current cartoons. Next, we have TeenNick, which brings us the big debates on itself - is it worthy of being a teen channel? Some may say that the channel hadn’t been the same since Degrassi stopped airing. It’s basically an excuse to air Nick’s live action lineup nowadays and only a few of them dealt with actual teen issues. My biggest problem with the channel is how wasted NickRewind is. It should expanded to other channels instead of being limited to a nighttime block on a channel for teens (even though Rewind is certainly catered to adults who grew up on old Nick shows). But when you look at the sad state is in right now, I think a shutdown is recommended at this point. Nick Jr, on the other hand, is the only side channel will almost never suffer from network decay as long as they don’t forget their mission of airing shows for preschoolers. Occasionally, they would air something that is aimed for kids older than 6. Most of the time, it’s due to airing simulcasts of big events (Kids Choice Awards, SpongeBob Musical Live on Stage) that would look out of place airing on a normal lineup for toddlers. For some strange reason, any acquired shows starring girls would be sent to burn off on the channel, showing their blatant sexism problems. And at one point, they came up with NickMom, which is aired content of what mothers watch when their kids are asleep. It was a not good idea as you can tell and by fall 2015, it was back to 24/7 of preschool programming. On rare occasions, the Nick Jr channel aired Nicktoons (the ones aimed at older kids), such as Harvey Beaks, The Loud House, and Rise of the TMNT (which is the most violent of them all), as well as the acquired show, ALVINNN!!! and the Chipmunks. They did aired Rugrats as well but it made sense the most considering who the main characters are. Lego City Adventures remains the last time they aired a TV-Y7 rated show, and the channel is now exclusively to showing current preschool shows.
Nick @ Nite
Before I can end this journal, I want to discuss the rise and fall of Nick @ Nite. Nick @ Nite is the nighttime block of Nickelodeon when its target demographics are heading to bed. During its early years, it started as early as 8pm, with the exception of Saturdays since 1992 with the launch of SNICK, which started at 10pm (until fall 2017). It wasn’t until Nick finally expanded a full hour of screentime that N@N would officially begin at 9pm. It is the place to watch syndicated reruns of retro sitcoms. It predates the TV Land channel, which is like a 24/7 version of the block. For better or worse, Nick @ Nite invented the concept of binge watching as they would usually introduce a show to its lineup by airing a marathon. As the years go on, the block slowly started airing more sitcoms that aren’t considered retro at the time. For example, they started to air The Wonder Years sometimes in the late 90’s, even though the show already ended several years prior. George Lopez, one of their most famous acquisitions, started airing on N@N a few months after it ended. What really started showing its decay is when they decided to play sitcoms that are still making new episodes: The Goldbergs, Mom (although the show has recently ended) and Young Sheldon are examples of this. To make things even worse, they think putting SpongeBob on the block would help keep this block afloat. Yes, the show has been on the air long time to be considered N@N worthy, but one problem: it’s still making new episodes. They make a big deal out of something that is already aired enough during normal hours, and I wonder why this block is still going. They can still air sitcoms for all I can care but maybe it’s time that N@N add a little bit of classic Nick shows to its lineup. In recent months, it’s been doing slightly better than regular Nick (because Friends fans don’t know much about HBO MAX), so they could use that an advantage. Unfortunately, it may not happen so it would just continue rotting. They might ad well ditch the 9pm and 6am hour for good already because they’re basically filler hours. Nick shows will often air at those hours when they need to since some kids will be up. Nicktoons and TeenNick may have a sad network decay, but Nick @ Nite have the most depressing network decay I’ve ever seen in any subsidiary of Nickelodeon. People complain that the Nick Jr block is holding Nick back for a diverse schedule, but I think we can all agree that Nick @ Nite is the one holding this channel back the most. Over 35 years after its launch, I don’t think we need Nick @ Nite anymore, since there’s so much cable networks you can choose from if you want to watch syndicated sitcom reruns. TV Land’s clearly doing better numbers than N@N during Primetime and that’s saying a lot. Replacing it with more SpongeBob and Loud House (or movie reruns) might not be the brightest idea for a true 24/7 Nickelodeon channel but maybe turning the block into a nostalgia Nick block would do more favors than NickRewind ever could on TeenNick.
This journal was a recap of looking back at which of Nick’s side channels suffered the harshest decay compared to the main channel (which the branding itself never had much of a decline, no matter much you outgrew from it). And I think it’s clear that Nick Jr is the only one that deserved its own channel since you can
basically leave it on all the time for little kids. Nicktoons had so much potential of playing Nicktoons from all eras but only insists of playing current toons (and occasionally live-action to break the “Toons” name of the network’s name) in a binge watch format. All of that potential is gone and it’s too late to recover. Not to mention, Nick is still using this channel to burn off cartoons that they don’t like because of low ratings and due to the fact that cable ratings have been declining for a while now, it’s pointless and hard to tell when it’s time to pull the plug. Nicktoons should not only stop being a graveyard for mistreated cartoons, but it should cease to exist as well. TeenNick’s variety is gloomy to look at. Might as well give it the nickname “NickHeroes” while we’re at it. And even then, they did used to favor a certain producer until his departure in 2018. So who knows, if TeenNick would still be around in 10 years from now (highly impossible), it would be balanced, if they’re not doing the marathon format. But with NickRewind being reduced to 1-2 shows, I think it’s also time for a shutdown, because it’s really obvious that Nick wants nothing to do with this channel anymore. They used to promote the channel featuring Nick Cannon, but I think it’s as good as dead when he’s presumably stepped down as chairman (TeenNick Top 10 has been discontinued in 2018, shortly before the rebrand), especially after that controversy in summer 2020 when he said something bad about Jewish people. The N@N section was just a look of how much this nighttime block has fallen. When a Nickelodeon expert admits that Cartoon Network have the better nighttime block, you know that Nick @ Nite have absolutely nothing exciting to offer nowadays, unless they could pull a MeTV by turning it into a nostalgic block for Nick’s past programming. And when you take away N@N and the really poor scheduling as well as atrocious business practices that ruined the network’s reputation, the main channel has so much potential in having an outstanding and varied schedule. It’s a shame those good old days are gone especially once the side channels started gaining more subscribers and the main channel became focusing on only airing 2-4 shows. I already show you my fantasy schedule but it’s how the channel should’ve been if they weren’t held back a stale nighttime block and two side channels that are having identity crisis. Compared to Cartoon Network and Disney Channel, Nickelodeon felt like the most perfect network for kids that have stay steady over the years with no sign of network decay (even on its worst days) and if it wasn’t for those meddling executives, the cartoon community wouldn’t be so harsh on it.
