Nickelodeon, Nick for short, is an American cable TV network for children. The world's first cable channel devoted to children's and youth programming, Nickelodeon went on the air in 1979 as Pinwheel (renamed to "Nickelodeon" in 1981). It was originally owned by Warner Amex Satellite Entertainment, a joint venture of American Express and the cable division of Warner Bros.; it is now part of MTV Networks, a division of Viacom.
From the beginning Nick has produced innovative programming, such as Pinwheel, You Can't Do That on Television, Double Dare, Clarissa Explains It All, Rugrats, SpongeBob SquarePants, and The Fairly Odd Parents. Nickelodeon also became known for its iconic green slime, originally used on You Can't Do That on Television and later a feature of many of the network's shows, especially their Slime Time program.
In 1986 Nick held the Big Ballot, an award show voted on by kids that would later become the Kids Choice Awards. Each April the Kids Choice Awards honor kids' favorites in movies, music, television, and sports, and feature appropriately juvenile elements like the Best Fart award and a celebrity burp-off.
Nickelodeon began producing original animated shows, known as Nicktoons, in 1991. The original three Nicktoons, Doug, Rugrats, and The Ren and Stimpy Show, debuted that year.
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Nick produces a website, Nick.com. It launched in 1995. The website features many sections and services:
Nickelodeon also publishes Nick magazine. The current magazine launched in 1993, following a short-lived effort from 1990. It contains informative non-fiction pieces, humor, and monthly crosswords.
In the US, Nick airs the Nick at Nite programming block from prime time to early morning. It features various Paramount Pictures- and Viacom-owned programs from the 1980s and '90s such as The Cosby Show, Roseanne, and Cheers. Nick at Nite also introduced Fatherhood, an animated show based on the book by Bill Cosby.
Nick at Nite later spun off the channel TV Land in 1996; it currently airs a variety of shows, primarily sitcoms from the 1950s to the present.
Nickelodeon has spun off other cable networks: Nick Too, Nick Games and Sports (Nick GAS), NickToons, and Noggin/The N (originally a joint venture with Sesame Workshop). They also operate language- or culture-specific Nickelodeon channels for various markets in different parts of the world, and have licensed translated versions of some of their cartoons and other content to TV and cable stations such as Kinderkanal of Germany, YTV (Youth TV) of Canada, Canal J of France, and Alpha Kids from Greece.
Outside of the U.S., Nickelodeon appears in Australia, Belgium (as a block on the TMF music channel), Denmark, India, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Nick Latin America appears in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
See also: List of Nickelodeon shows.