I am thirty years old. I just today learned nickelodeon was an actual word before Nickelodeon.

I'm pretty sure Spongebob isn't actually a kid. He's an adult with childlike tendencies.

To everyone confused, Nickelodeon is the first ever 24 Hr Kids TV Network. Cartoon Network was the world's first 24Hr Animation Network.

As a graphic designer, I find it fascinating how much Nickelodeon's success was due to rebranding

its crazy in hindsight because the logo thing was basically like “what if we made a kids channel appeal to children?”

I like the juxtaposition of the original logo, but only because I'm an adult and I get the irony. I would have skipped over that channel as a kid.

I remember watching Titanic as an eleven-year-old. When Jack said, "I saw this on Nickelodeon once", I was confused. I mean, the movie takes place in 1912. This was before the advent of sound films, let alone cable TV. Then, I asked my dad about it, and he explained where the name originated, and what it was.

I can't lie, Nickelodeon's unhealthy obsession with Spongebob is starting to make me miss the old Nickelodeon.

It’s incredibly difficult for me to view Nickelodeon’s old footage and marketing material and believe it was actually them! It’s so different from what I grew with during the late 90s and 2000s. Props to Fred/Allen Inc. for transforming it so successfully.

Looking back at their earliest attempts at marketing looks like a disaster now, but this was really the first time children were marketed to as their own demographic to this extent. Children have always had toys and stories for all of human history, but this was the first time anyone was creating a TV network just for them. They had no idea what they were doing.

It's funny, I always thought Nickelodeon started in 1984, not sure why, guess that's just when they started gaining traction. Had no idea they were on the air as early as 1979!

Fun fact: Hillenberg and his team actually pushed back on Nick insisting SpongeBob be a kid. The whole boating school idea came as a compromise between them and network execs who wanted SpongeBob in a classroom environment.

What I find funny is how CN, Nick's biggest rival, is currently owned by Warner, which was originally founded with a similar goal and had Fred Seibert also play a role in their success, but actually managed to avoid this same issue because Ted Turner actually had a plan from the beginning: rerun old shows so they could create original content.

Imagine if Fred and Alan declined the deal with WB. So much would've been different. SpongeBob probably wouldn't even exist.

Growing up Canadian, I never knew about nickelodeon as a channel, only that their shows would play on YTV or Teletoon. This was in interesting history to help fill in those cultural gaps!

It’s sad to see how the network declined with time.

I'm a gen-X er, so I lived through the golden age of Nickelodeon, and I have quite a bit of nostalgia for the channel as it was in the early to mid 80s. I can't count how many rainy Saturday afternoons I spent glued to the channel. SOOOOooooo many memories. Now I just feel old looking back on how long ago that was.

This channel is incredibly underrated. Stupendous production on this one.

I grew up with Nickelodeon during the early 90s. Everything from Ren and Stimpy to Rocko's Modern Life as well as seasons after seasons of Rugrats was perhaps their most popular series long before Spongebob Squarepants.

I was born in 1991 and was privileged to enjoy Nickelodeon’s heyday…the 90s and early 2000s really were a golden time for ‘Nick’, SO MANY GOOD SHOWS! Rugrats, Hey Arnold, Doug, Wild Thornberrys, Rocket Power, yeah i could go on and on about the cartoons, but there was MORE too! Kid friendly sitcoms like Kenan and Kel, great anthology comedies like ‘KABLAM!’ And ‘All That’, game shows such as ‘Figure it Out’ ‘Double Dare’ and ‘Hidden Temple’, even kid oriented News and Awards shows. They literally had EVERYTHING YOU NEEDED right there if you were between the ages of 5 and 16. It was THE CHANNEL TO WATCH.

The foot variant of the classic logo is Dan Schneider’s favorite.

I was born in the mid-80s myself, so needless to say, I had the honor of seeing Nickelodeon grow along with me, lol. I got to watch Pinwheel as a toddler, and I got to watch the first-ever Nicktoons as a kid in the first grade. And this is a great video. It's nice to see the history of what made this cornerstone of my childhood memories.

Never thought a history on Nickelodeon would be so interesting. Definately felt a lot of nostalgia watching the vid! Excited for new content to come, especially with the sick set up! 🔥

I love the Nickelodeon silver ball logo. It’s so distinctly 1980’s.

Early Nick did have one great, iconic show: You Can’t Do That On Television. That literally had a recurring bit about kids that were going to be executed by firing squad. Plus it gave us slime. If there’s anything Nick is known for, it’s the orange splat, and slime.

Nick was a staple of hot summers hanging out with my cousins in our grandmother's cool basement. Lots of fond memories surrounding a crazy tv station of all things. Looking forward to your future videos! Good stuff here

The history of Nickelodeon in Germany was kind of rocky, too. In started broadcast ist in october 1995 and endet in September 1998. It often shared its slot with different tv-stations like "arte" or "vh1". The tv landscape was different in Germany. Each TV Station had a timeslot for children's tv in afternoon and/or on saturday morning. RTL2 was becoming a go-to station for anime like Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon and Pokemon. SuperRTL was at frist branded for families but soon became a kids-channel. In the same time, the public broadcast stations founded the Kinderkanal (short Kika), without adds. SuperRTL broadcasted Disney Shows like Pepper Ann and Hotel Zack and Cody, and later Nicktoons like Fairly Odd Parents and Songebob. Since 2010 it is back again under the short name "nick" or the long "Nickelodeon". Nickelodeon in the 90's was a strange place. You had these surreal shows like "Ren and Stimpy" and "Pete and Pete" but also the more slice-of-live ones like "Clarissa" and "Doug".

That metallic rainbow logo is a vibe, but I admit the slime-themed secondary color scheme fits the channel more

Cool new setup, interesting video as usual too! I had no idea Nick was born so early in the history of children's animation, always assumed it started up in the 90s since that's when most of their iconic IPs got made. Here's to more nostalgia deep dives, excited to see how 2023 treats your channel!

Kids may be easily influential, but they’re not stupid.

Having been born just a few years after Nick was created, it was a big part of my childhood. The orange splat logo, tune, and many of the commercials are still firm in my memory.

Growing up watching Nickelodeon (and MTV) in the early 90s, I remember the jingles and all of the orange splats and green slime. The time era from Rugrats, Ren & Stimpy, Rocko's Modern Life, Double Dare, Salute Your Shorts, up to the earlier seasons of SpongeBob were their golden times.

I love how historically, executives make the absolute worst decisions and try to stomp down everything that makes things good, the story is always "Y'know that thing you love? Some old crusty fucks hated it and made artists fight tooth and nail for any hint of their artistic visions being developed!" time is a flat circle and CEO's must be fed to croccodiles

Can't believe Nick started as a less engaging PBS! Great vid, really loved learning the history behind my fav channel as a 90s kid

This was so nostalgic and awesome! Where would we be without Patrick.

I grew up on Nickelodeon in the early 90s. I also really miss “Nick at Nite” which turned me onto shows like Get Smart, Dragnet, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Donna Reed when I was about 8 years old. What a time to watch Nick and other networks like “The Comedy Channel” / CTV (later Comedy Central) and Cartoon Network find their brand and footing in the cable landscape.

I've just come across this channel. How on earth does this channel only have 12k subscribers? I'm shocked with how professional and informative this content is that you would have a larger audience. This channel is definitely going to blow up soon I feel it.

That's so cool to know that there was an actual doo-wop band who wrote that. I always assumed it was either leftover music from an earlier project or public domain. I loved that logo era

The Pinwheel Network was awesome. I loved Pinwheel as a kid. The start of a media juggernaut (You missed part of the network's history, although you did include pinwheel clips, nice!) This was a hardcore nostalgia trip for 45 year old eyes. Thanks for it!

big fan of this video! imo, it takes a crazy amount of effort to successfully condense the basics of nick's early history into 20 minutes. kudos!

I miss the days where executives would listen to the creatives. They were hesitant each time but ultimately trusted the vision. But also, people don’t build brands like they used to so I kinda get it.

I don’t usually stay for ads or even announcements on channels I regularly watch, but I stayed for the end of this vid and you were really funny and refreshing. Subbed

So happy this came across my feed. Amazing video essay with TOP NOTCH editing.

That footprint Nickelodeon logo... You could imagine why Dan Schneider joined Nickelodeon.

I'm only a little over 6 minutes into the video, but I want to applaud it! Your professionalism, editing, clear and nice speaking voice- well researched topic... You've (so far) done an amazing job! I will surely be looking into your channel.

Thank you for this awesome video! As someone who's in marketing and design that grew up during the golden era of Nick, this was such an insightful look at how the channel really evolved to become what it always aspired to be. I even vividly remember the first cable channel we tuned to was Nick and it was a Rugrats episode where they were at a pool! The vintage vibes of the original logo, marketing, etc are really cool but yeah that would've been so boring to me as a kid. The introduction of Nicktoons also really helped build its brand identity, too, but we wouldn't have had those if it wasn't for the bold ideas and pushing to make those ideas come to life.

That end of video gag was perfect. Thank you for your service.

This channel is super underrated. Keep up the great work, this content is amazing that you do for the history of channels/shows/games/companies/etc. Really cool content especially for younger audiences that aren't familiar with the long histories behind things. With time you'll keep gaining traction. Followed you after your Jimmy Neutron vid I saw a few days ago. 💪

Basically my childhood for TV right there.. As a 40 yr old now the early Rugrats and Doug footage was a hit of nostalgia for the week. TYVM for the vid

wishing you the best. im DEFINITELY from the beginnings of Nickelodeon. you took it back and foward in a great way. one.

Your channel is incredible. You will have millions of subscribers, please keep pushing content. The quality is just so excellent.

Okay, I was a kid when that silver ball logo existed for Nickelodeon. I had completely forgot about it. To be fair, Nickelodeon had only been recently added to my family's cable line up and it wasn't too long before the orange logo came along.....and like you said, kids weren't really watching the channel and that includes me. Some of my younger cousins who lived in a different city were actually the first in my family to ever even get Nickelodeon with their cable package, but they had the premium channels HBO and Disney which meant that when I came to visit them I usually wanted to watch Fraggle Rock on HBO or watch Disney Channel more than Nickelodeon. Don't get me wrong, I was excited as a kid when we got it since it was another channel my parents let me watch, it just took awhile for me to find things I wanted to watch. Once I did get to where I enjoyed watching You Can't Do That On Television, Count Duckula, Danger Mouse, and so many other shows it became my favorite channel to watch. I still watched Saturday morning cartoons on the broadcast networks, some cartoon/kids lineups on other cable channels (USA Cartoon Express) and still occasionally watched shows on PBS (Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego, Square One TV, and so on), but Nickelodeon was the channel my little 13 inch tv in my bedroom was on the most. We didn't get Cartoon Network until my junior year of high school (which I was super excited about because then I could watch Dexter's Lab) and by my sophomore year in college my family's cable now included Disney Channel (even though Mickey Mouse Club was no longer a thing that aired on it) as part of the basic lineup (but by then my parents had upgraded to include Starz, Encore, HBO). I didn't know about the early years of Nickelodeon or why it was even started, but I'm glad they kept trying and it eventually worked. I completely agree that the decision to make it feel like a space run by kids for kids is what helped draw kids in. I was just such a kid and I do remember feeling like it was a channel that didn't just have kid's programming, but that it felt like it was run by kids (even though I knew adults were still ultimately in control of course). That definitely seperated it from other channels where it felt like it was more like kids were just included and had special blocks of programming. This is a great video! Thanks for making it and letting me learn more about a channel that was a big part of child and teen years! Between still remembering "Nick Nick Nick Nick Nick Nick Nickelodeon" theme for that channel and the special preview periods for Disney Channel with the lady operator who'd come on at least three or four times between promos about upcoming shows, etc, between shows ("Hi, my name's Nancy. I'm an operator here at the Disney Channel. I hope you're enjoying our free (insert season: fall, spring, fall, winter) preview. This is just a sample of the programming Disney Channel offers you and your family. From award winning Disney films to Disney Channel exclusives, there's something for everyone. Call and subscribe today and for a limited time you could get (insert whatever freebie things they were giving away to new subscribers)." It's amazing the things that stick in our minds, especially from childhood. I mean my mom and dad watched Dallas every week and so even though I didn't watch the show, I knew the theme song....because my parents let me stay in to watch the opening credits. I even remember the theme song from a local news tv station KWTV from my childhood with the main chorus being "It's the Spirit of Oklahoma....TV 9!...but like I know the whole brief song. Of course I know the BC Clark anniversary sale jingle, but that's literally played every Christmas season in Oklahoma so I doubt that anyone who grew up in Oklahoma could forget it!). This is such a great video that really covered a lot and included lots of clips from shows I haven't watched in a very long time. Thanks for the knowledge and the bit of nostalgia as well!!!!

Just found your channel, you should have millions of followers, quality stuff. Takes me back to my childhood

High quality video essay! Can't wait for the next vid!

you’re making such interesting and well researched content that you’re clearly passionate about keep doing what you’re doing! you’re gaining traction and i’m sure soon you will blow up

That weird moment you realize Warner created Nickelodeon, Viacom just bought it. Then Warner went and merged with Turner which created Cartoon Network.

Alow Start for this channel, bit already several incredible documentary type videos, already watched several of them! Awesome work *_Slow Start_*

Fantastic video, giving me defunctland vibes. Keep it up man! Excited to see you grow

I remember being 5 yrs old, in 1984 and tuning into Nickelodeon everyday. Loved "You can't do that on television"

one of Nick's first shows were Pinwheel which showed the once lost "Clockman" short.

Great job on this video about one of my favorites channels I grew up watching ❤

I've heard at least a few of Nick's shows from those days are fondly remembered like You Can't Do That On Television and Mr. Wizard, I also recall there being a show called Out of Control that was discussed in a book about early Nick called Slimed.

Fred and Alan sure were clever, but so are you! Impressive video and compilation of information. New subscriber here.

Great video...was actually born nearly 2 months after Nick first signed on, so I have vague memories of the "silver ball" era, but would agree that the channel really first hit its stride after the 1984 rebranding/focus shift.

I'm gonna fall in love of this channel so fk hard.. I'm glad that I arrived here when there's "only" 10k subs. Keep it going, you're going places.

I found yo channel when you just had about 5k subs. Seeing the growth of a small channel into a soon to be youtube titian is crazy! You truley love to see it!

very excited for the future of slow start. BIG THINGS ARE COMIN BABY

14:14. At some point, ol’ Dan “gotta get inside her” Schneider looked around at all the different kids show channels. He saw Nick had the feet logo, and he knew he’d be right at home there.

My first memories of Nickelodeon were kids getting slimed on "You Can't Do That On Television". I also vividly remember when Nicktoons came out with rugrats and Doug and I wanna say "ahh real monsters" but I'm not sure I miss those times so much 😢

I was shocked when I went to subscribe to your channel and discovered how few subscribers you have! This is really good stuff! Thanks for the time you put into this!

This was really great. I just found your channel through your shrek products video and instantly subbed. Keep up the good work!

A couple of things to say here I Silver ball era nostalgic. Go onto the videos that contain the pinwheel theme song or Silver ball era bumpers, and you’ll find comments that do find this eras nostalgic and memorable signifying that it wasn’t all negativity and hate Eras for Nickelodeon (based on idents [like CN] and programming quality) Prelaunch/ Pinwheel era - 1977-1979 Old timey era - 1979 - 1980 Silver ball era - 1980 - 1984/5 Classic era - 1984/5 - 1990 Toons era - 1991 - 2001 Decline era - 2001 - 2009 Low era - 2010 - 2022 Modern Classic era - 2023 - present

Nickelodeon in late 90s Germany was a scuffed experience. I think they only aired until 8 or 9 pm and then took a break until 7 or 8 in the morning. I think it also completely died at one point until it picked up steam again years later. But the programs were pretty cool and it already had the iconic orange splatter behind the name, which was recognizable by anyone you asked. I also didn't know about the origin of the name until it was cleared up in this video. Didn't really care about it either to be honest. I just assumed it was a funny name someone came up with.

Love this channel, you've gained a subscriber! Looking forward for more videos

Thank you for this video! Nickelodeon really formed my childhood. I remember loving it as a kid; channel 22. Even though I was watching it in early 2010s, not during its golden era, there were plenty of shows that catched my eye, and a lot of reruns. Some of these cartoons and ads are even considered lost media for me: I don't remember their name and can't find them in the lists, but they're still in my head.

Considering I’m a 90’s kid, the idea that there was a time you could be made fun of for watching Nickelodeon is wild to me.

Rocko’s modern life was the exception to the all shows are about kids rule, since all the main characters were in their 20’s.

im german and it came out here in the 90s... but i can remember i loved the shows.. rugrats... rocos modern life... ahh monsters...clarissa ... ren and stimpy

Thank you for such wonderful content on a topic that oh so dear to my heart. I am 35 and had the privilege of viewing the programs pf Nickelodeon, during its hay day. I frequented Central Florida during the late 90's and I had a few opportunities to visit Nickelodeon's television studio, located in Universal Studios theme park. I was able to be a part of the studio audience for a few shows (such as Figure it Out of Double Dare) and was in a commercial and got slimed (I can go on a 30 minute tangent about that strange substance...)

Actually, early 80s Nickelodeon was pretty cool. I watched the channel up until the end of the decade, but the first half of the 80s is the time I most fondly remember. They didn't have a lot of original programs in those days so they showed a lot of these weird but cool cartoons and sci-fi shows from Britain like Danger Mouse, the original Tomorrow People and the Third Eye. Those were some of my favorite shows when I was a kid back then.

Every canadian: thats why the suite life of zack and cody feels so... family channel. Haha maan i love these videos im literally waiting on the next one

Great work man! Very thorough and concise.

I started watching Nickelodeon around '83-'84. My earliest memory was watching You Can't Do That on Television

Your editing is awesome! First time viewer here; definitely liked and subscribed! As others have pointed out, while SpongeBob is very child-like; he is technically an adult sponge. But his character is very relatable to kids and in a way I think is like a wish fulfillment for every kid that wants to continue to be a kid as they advance into the adult world…something to think about 😊

Looking forward to seeing what is to come! Keep up the good work brother!

Great video bro, subscribed and ready for more!

The idea of having a second channel itself was groundbreaking. Here in Canada channels were naturally split by language, French and English...

Wonderful video, perfect blend of history and nostalgia

Excellent video essays channel discovery? DAY MADE. LET'S GO.

Finally got around to watching it, top notch video, enjoy your vacation!

While I kind of agree with the network heads about the logo and sound choices, I'm glad it won out. Not because of the hindsight that it obviously worked, but because studio heads are so often trying to just follow trends. And a huge reason the rebranding probably worked was because it was so different from everything else at the time. This formula is obvious over most of media history. Doing something bold and unique makes you stand out as the trend setter. But back then, as now, studios are all trying to play it safe and copy each other. Today, we have even more overly homogenized logos and endless reboot/formula shows.

Wow, ur voice style narration and channel characters are reminiscent of old 1960 kid and new milenials style. Very very underrated . Should have 100000 channel subs

Hey! I like the scripting and voice and stuff! Whatever you’re doing, it made me sub!

In my opinion, I love the 1983 logo even more than the 1984 and 2009 logos. I wish they rather used that font for the 2023 orange splat.

I had no idea that Nickelodeon aired since the late 70's. I was a baby back then... But I shouldn't be surprised. Anyway, my family didn't get the network till around the mid to late 80's. My brother and I thought it was so neat to have a network just for us. Watched till about the late 90s-early 2000's when we became adults. Although I watched the 2012 TMNT show on the network, but that's about it after that.

That floating metal ball advertisement looks like it's from Phantasm. I'd be terrified if I saw that as a kid.

I just found ur channel and watched the milo video. Great work and content. I really like ur style of video and I'm watched ur other videos now .I subscribed and like and recommended ur videos to my family.keep up the great work👍

Keep doing what you are doing since its working, its fun to see a channel with real potential grow.

hey dude, I actually remember my grandparents getting cable in the late 80s and nickelodeon was an amazing breath of fresh air (after spending the previous couple years dialing-in the rabbit ears on a small TV just to watch turtles, ghostbusters, and rescue rangers lol). I was glad to see some interesting kids' content at the time, still layered with broadcast-network (abc, nbc, cbs) cartoon blocks and funky public television stuff (321 contact and Square One, specifically). I may have spent a little too much time watching TV into my teen years, but my older sister and I still have fond memories of the debut episodes of Doug, Rugrats, and Ren & Stimpy, and Nick was a fantastic catalyst of creative expression for so many of my friends at the time. It really was a wonderful experience

If Nickelodeon had shut down in the early 80s, there probably would be no SpongeBob, no Rugrats, no Drake And Josh, no Hey Arnold, no Kenan And Kel, no Blue's Clues, no Jimmy Neutron, no Avatar, no Dora, and many, many, MANY other shows. Okay, those shows probably would still exist, but they wouldn't be Nickelodeon programs.