Nick to go 24/7 in Germany

Viacom children’s channel Nickelodeon is shifting to a 24-hour schedule in Germany, Switzerland and Austria from this autumn.

The network, which currently broadcasts between 06.00 and 20.15 each day, sharing the airwaves with Comedy Central, will make the 24/7 switch in October.

Comedy Central, meanwhile, will be combined with Viva, the former running between 17.00 and 06.00 while the Viacom music channel airs 06.00 to 17.00.

The move, which comes out of overseas channels unit Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), is designed to broaden the Nickelodeon demographic and comes after Disney launched a 24-hour free-to-air version of its kids’ channel in Germany in January.

“We want to become the essential content hub for Millennials in Europe,” said Magnus Kastner, executive VP and MD of VIMN Northern Europe. “Extending Nickelodeon’s presence as a 24/7 channel dedicated to kids and an additional youth target group is an important strategic move in realising this goal.”

Kastner, who joined VIMN last year from Rotana, added that Viva and Comedy Central’s target audiences shared similar interests and so it made sense to bring the two together.

VIMN said it would share more details on programming and a precise launch date soon.