Nickelodeon will offer full length series via the Internet for the first time as it launches TurboNick, a broadband video platform available on Nick.com. TurboNick will feature up to 20 hours of new programming every week and includes advertising. In its soft launch phase that commenced July 1, 2005, TurboNick has garnering more than 1.25 million streams and will officially launch with a full advertising and promotional campaign on July 17.
TurboNick is the latest multiplatform experience created to allow kids to access Nickelodeon, which joins its existing Video on Demand offerings on cable, as well as ring tones and video clips that are available via wireless providers.
As the first kids network to provide full length video programming online, combined with the recent acquisition of Neopets, a global online entertainment network with more than 25 million members worldwide that generates more than five billion page views per month, Nickelodeon now offers more multiplatform experiences than any other kids entertainment company.
The TurboNick platform compliments our on-air programming by giving kids and parents Nickelodeon video content any time they want it, said Mike Skagerlind, svp/gm, Nickelodeon Online. Whether its all-new long-form programming, exclusive video, classic shows or current programming favorites, we will be able to utilize TurboNick as a vehicle to deliver what kids want, when they want it, using up-to-the minute technology.
TurboNick allows users to watch programming clips and full length episodes ranging from 30 seconds to 22 minutes in length, including occasional world premieres of new series beginning with the animated program CATSCRATCH. TurboNick is organized into six separate areas, each containing up to five different series with two or more episodes to select. The themed areas include:
* Nicktoons is the animation home on TurboNick which features hit shows, such as SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS, AVATAR and more.
* TEENick features live-action programming and music from Nickelodeons TEENick block. Included will be ZOEY 101, NEDS DECLASSIFIED SCHOOL SURVIVAL GUIDE, UNFABULOUS and interviews with teen stars.
* Ha! Ha! Nick is dedicated to comedy, and featuring exclusive shorts and bloopers, as well as new and previous live-action and animated Nickelodeon comedy hits like REN & STIMPY, PETE AND PETE, DRAKE AND JOSH, and more.
* In Nick Rewind, users will recognize familiar faces from favorite, classic network shows such as KENAN & KEL, DOUBLE DARE and CLARISSA EXPLAINS IT ALL.
* Nicksclusives is a backstage pass to the entertainment world featuring movie trailers, music videos, celebrity interviews and other entertainment-based video such as game demonstrations.
* Nick Now! is the TurboNick home base. U-Pick Lives PickBoy is the Nick Now! host. The area features selections from throughout the TurboNick site.
Other exclusive TurboNick content will include exclusive interviews from the 2005 Kids Choice Awards; animated short-form programming from Nick Australia; new short-form programming content, including MR. MEATY AND MAKING FIENDS; and exclusive short-form programming from Klasky Csupo (RUGRATS) called SCHMUTZ. All programming is available full screen. Users may customize the look of their TurboNick players, and soon will be able to create and save their own playlists, send videos to friends, rate their favorite videos and download content.
In addition to TurboNick, the network is rolling out two more broadband video initiatives -- Nick Jr. Parents TV and Nick Jr. Video, which both soft launched on July 5. Nick Jr. Parents TV features playful how-to parent-child do-together activities, such as how to make THE BACKYARDIGANS finger puppets or create musical instruments, as well as a backstage look at the world of Nick Jr. through INSIDER videos and interviews with talent like Kathleen Herles, the voice behind Dora the Explorer. New videos will premiere each week.
Nick Jr. Video, designed for preschoolers, will launch with upgraded video quality on August 10. Nick Jr. Video will feature more than 100 video clips from preschoolers favorite shows and interstitials (both in short and long-form) including: Nick Jr. music videos, never-before-seen shorts and a selection of full Nick Jr. show episodes; the addition of playlists; and the option to view video in full screen format. It will also feature various Nick Jr. series, such as the upcoming GO DIEGO GO! spinoff of DORA THE EXPLORER.
Advertisers that are initially featured on TurboNick include Topps, General Mills, Kelloggs, Activision and Sony Pictures. Nick Jr. Parents TV, a contextual environment for Nickelodeons parent-targeting advertisers, and Nick Jr. Video will feature marketers such as Honda and General Motors Chevrolet. Advertisements will run on TurboNick, Nick Jr. Parents TV and Nick Jr. Video much like they are broadcast on Nickelodeon and Nick Jr.s air. In addition to running the: 30 non-skipable spots, the various TurboNick screens provide a leave behind, which is a static display ad from the same brand that runs with the TurboNick ad.
Nickelodeon, now in its 26th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the U.S. and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 89 million households and has been the number- one-rated basic cable network for more than nine consecutive years. Nickelodeon is a subsidy of Viacom Intl Inc.
