Paramount Global to shutter preschool subscription service Noggin as part of cuts

Noggin carries Nick Jr’s Blaze & the Monster Machines

Kids streaming service Noggin is set to be shut down as part of cuts being made across US-headquartered media company Paramount Global.

Noggin’s whole team has been laid off and the service will stop taking on any new subscribers before closing later this year.

The ad-free entertainment and learning platform, which is part of Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr brand, aims to develop maths, reading, wellness, social and emotional skills in kids aged two to seven.

It carries more than 1,000 educational games, videos and books featuring Nick Jr characters, in addition to Nick Jr shows like Blue’s Clues, Team Umizoomi, Shimmer & Shine, Dora the Explorer and Blaze & the Monster Machines plus third-party acquisitions.

Noggin was first launched as a cable channel in 1999, running for a decade until it was closed. The brand lay dormant for six years until it was relaunched in 2015 as a direct-to-consumer offering.

News of the plan to shut down Noggin was first reported by Kidscreen.

The closure of Noggin and loss of its team comes as Paramount Global makes an estimated 800 job cuts across its US and international teams.

Lay-offs started on Tuesday, with US employees being notified of the cuts, while job losses outside the States will “occur over time.” Job cuts have already started in Australia, as reported by C21.

Elsewhere, psychological drama Evil is set to conclude with its fourth season on Paramount+.  The show was renewed for a 10-part fourth instalment in 2022 but its production cycle was disrupted by the onset of the US writers’ strike last May. 

In addition to revealing that season four would mark the show’s last, Paramount+ also announced on Thursday that an additional four episodes have been commissioned on top of the original order. Produced by CBS Studios in association with King Size Productions, filming is set to begin soon in New York. 

The show, created by co-showrunners Robert and Michelle King, examines the origins of evil along the dividing line between science and religion. The first season debuted on US broadcaster CBS before the show moved to Paramount+ for subsequent seasons.