Nick reveals OTT service

Nickelodeon has unveiled details of its new direct-to-consumer subscription VoD service, which will be called Noggin and is aimed at preschoolers.

Parent company Viacom announced the service last month but has now revealed it will launch as a mobile application for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch from March 5.

Details of the service were unveiled at Nickelodeon’s annual upfront presentation, where the firm confirmed some of its initial line-up. Current kids’ shows Blue’s Clues, Little Bear and Ni Hao, Kai-lan will be available at launch, as well as animation featuring Nick’s preschool characters Moose and Zee.

The streaming service, priced at US$5.99 a month, will also offer other long- and shortform content, including Allegra’s Window, Blue’s Room, Franklin & Friends, Gullah Gullah Island, Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends, Oswald, Pocoyo, Robot & Monster and The Upside Down Show.

The news comes as Nickelodeon and other cable channels focusing on young viewers face increasing competition from SVoD players such as Netflix and Amazon, which now offer a range of original and acquired kids’ content.

Premium US cablenet HBO will unveil its own internet-based on-demand service in the US this year, while CBS became the first US network to launch a streaming option for viewers in October.

The current Nick Jr mobile app will remain following Noggin’s launch.

Meanwhile, the kids’ channel has confirmed it will air more than 600 episodes of new and returning series in the forthcoming TV season.

Its new series include a 20-episode order for musical comedy Make It Pop, 40 episodes of live-action series Talia’s Kitchen and 20 episodes of WITs Academy, a daily strip show.

Nick has also gone for a live-action series based on the movie School of Rock and a new series from producers Sid and Marty Kroft. The channel is also developing plans to put SpongeBob SquarePants in a Broadway musical and to extend its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.