Nickelodeon (Auslandia)

Nickelodeon (formerly branded as just “Nick” during 2007-2010) is the Auslandian version of the American television channel with the same name.

Prelaunch
Before 2000, the British feed of Nickelodeon was broadcasted to Auslandia. This caused some confusion, due to the fact that nobody in the country could access the British website. The Auslandian version of the website was then created and a lower graphic that said “Please go to ‘nick.co.aus’ instead of ‘nick.co.aus’. We don’t want to make anyone upset by the website not working.” was broadcasted during promos.

In 1995, Jonathan Walsh (the former owner of MTV Networks Auslandia) proposed the creation of the official Auslandian Nickelodeon feed to the AGTR (Auslandian Goverment of Television and Rado). The proposal was approved by the AGTR and the actual Government of Auslandia, sealing the fate of Nickelodeon in Auslandia.

During the December of 1999, the signal of Nickelodeon UK was intercepted by a test of the Auslandian feed for a few seconds each day. On Millennium Eve 1999, the British channel’s feed in Auslandia was replaced with the launch of Toon Disney Auslandia, with a new channel space appearing on Sky Auslandia, Telewest Auslandia and Freeview Auslandia. The new channel space aired a loop of Nickelodeon idents until the end of the day, when a countdown started.

2000-2007: The Beginning Era
The countdown ended at 6:00am on Millennium Day, with a special montage of idents set to “In The Hall Of The Mountain King”. The channel finally launched with “Help Wanted”, the very first episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. The channel was the first ever international Nickelodeon channel to be available 24/7. The day after, Nickelodeon Auslandia separated itself from the other feeds with a new look themed on “graffitimated”, which featured the Nickelodeon logo in graffiti form (graffiti form = stencilled with quick-drying paint) around the cities of Auslandia. A German feed was launched a few days after the rebrand, due to a complaint from one of the German customers of Sky.

In 2002, Nickelodeon Toons launched in Auslandia as Nicktoons TV. It originally was a customised version of the British feed with Auslandian adverts, until it became fully Auslandian. The same happened with Nickelodeon Junior, which launched as Nick Jr. Nickelodeon Auslandia later introduced programming blocks with the launch of “Nickimated”, which was a primetime blocks of new episodes of shows from the Nicktoons library. The block lives on in the shape of “Primetoons” on Nickelodeon Toons.

2 years later, the channel started to air shows from Comedy Central in the early hours. Soon enough, Nick Comedy was launched as a nighttime block. The block used a different version of the Nick idents used in the country, with the logo being stencilled in neon paint around the cities of Auslandia. The block was later renamed to “Nick@Nite” and become the home of classic sitcoms from the Auslandian Television library as well as shows from Comedy Central.

2007-2010: The Letterboxed Era
In 2007, the channel started to move towards widescreen with a letterboxed look. The channel also gained a new look which took the theme of “graffitimated” to CGI, with mini worlds emerging from it. The channel also became available on Channel 503 on Digital Service Television (DSTV, not to be confused with the African television provider). “Muttowski the Celebrity Dog”, the first ever original Nickelodeon Auslandia show, premiered in 2008 with the airing of its first two episodes “The Day The Earth Went Mutty” and “Mutt I Can’t Say No”.

The Nick@Nite block was renamed Comedy Central and its look featured the “graffitimated” look being shows as rectangles, foreshadowing the 2010 Comedy Central Germany look. The shows were fully changed to only Comedy Central programs again, therefore returning it to its roots under a different name.

Nicktoons TV and Nick Jr were renamed to Nickelodeon Toons and Nickelodeon Junior as part of a reimagining of both of the channel identities.

MTV launched a Nickelodeon block for customers of Sky who didn’t have the Kids Entertainment pass, with the same thing happening on MTV Shows for Nickelodeon Junior and MTV Entertainment for Nickelodeon Toons.

2010-present: The Nickissance Era
In 2010, Nickelodeon finally went widescreen and digital. A new look was launched as well, featuring a total reimagination of the “graffitimated” era with the whole city becoming a ‘Nickelodeon City’ with the press of a button with the new logo on it. The channel entered the social media age with a Twitter, YouTube and Facebook account.