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Nick Online Upgrades Nick Jr. Video, Introduces NickMail Maker

This week Nickelodeon Online is launching a new version of Nick Jr. Video as well as NickMail Maker.

The updated Nick Jr. Video launches with new featured content on Aug. 16. Nick Jr. Video, available on NickJr.com, is a broadband video service that allows kids to watch short- and long-form programming online, in full-screen. Part of Nickelodeon Online's recently launched TurboNick platform, Nick Jr. Video is the latest multiplatform experience created to allow kids to access Nickelodeon, joining its existing Video on Demand offerings on cable, as well as ring tones and video clips that are available via wireless providers.

"Nick Jr. Video complements the Nick Jr. preschool television block to provide 'play along' programming online, anytime of the day," said Kyra Reppen, vp/gm, NickJr.com. "With this service, we can deliver favorite programming for preschoolers and parents when they want it, using the latest technology and in a preschooler-friendly environment. In addition, we can showcase brand-new and classic material."

Nick Jr. Video will provide a sneak peek of the DORA THE EXPLORER spinoff series, GO, DIEGO, GO!, almost two weeks prior to its Sept. 6 on-air debut. The episode, entitled "Diego Saves the Mommy and Baby Sloth," finds Diego helping Sammy the Sloth rescue his mommy and Baby Sloth from a muddy mud slide. Full-length episodes of DORA THE EXPLORER, BLUE'S CLUES, LITTLE BILL, OSWALD and GULLAH GULLAH ISLAND will also be available at Nick Jr. Video's launch. In addition, more than 70 videos from preschoolers' favorite Nick Jr. shows, short stories, music video content and interstitials, as well as programming favorites from Nick's digital preschool network, Noggin, like OOBI, LAURIE BERKNER and more, will be featured. Programming will be refreshed on a bi-weekly basis.

Two never-before-seen shorts, MIGHTY BUG 5 and DOWNWARD DOGHOUSE, also debut on the Nick Jr. Video platform prior to their on-air and Verizon V-Cast premieres. DOWNWARD DOGHOUSE, the first Nick Jr. property to feature an intergenerational Chinese American family, encourages preschoolers to care for their environment with humor while joyfully exploring Chinese language, food, culture and yoga. MIGHTY BUG 5 features five bugs Jason, Antny, Ruby, Lizzy and Parnell - with super powers, and with the help of the viewer they solve problems and battle injustice. NickJr.com will also launch MIGHTY BUG 5 and DOWNWARD DOGHOUSE interactive games on Aug. 16.

Nick Jr. Video also features the addition of playlists and the option to view video in full screen format. Stephanie, the energetic, pink-haired star from the Nick Jr. Icelandic series LAZYTOWN, is the host of Nick Jr. Video and helps preschoolers navigate the site through exclusive interstitials.

Nick Jr. Video officially launches with a promotional campaign on Aug. 16. The platform's soft launch phase began Aug. 10.

This week, Nickelodeon Online will also debut NickMail Maker on Nick.com, a first-of-its-kind animated messaging product for kids. A hybrid of e-mail, instant messenger and animation applications, NickMail Maker allows kids to communicate with one another by making their own animation.

"We wanted to provide kids with a safe messaging system that allows them to communicate and express themselves in a creative way," said Mike Skagerlind, svp/gm, Nickelodeon Online. "NickMail Maker offers kids a sense of community by connecting with each other in the Nick.com community, and a chance to explore their creativity by becoming 'animators' in their own right."

To create these unique messages, NickMail Maker includes a kid-friendly dictionary, offering more than 7,500 words. Kids can also pick from a variety of pictures including characters from THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS or other favorite Nick shows, sounds and backgrounds some static and some animated to add more visual elements to their messages. Sounds from favorite shows, musical fanfares and audio FX are also included. These components will be refreshed on a weekly basis. The animation comes alive with the option to time specific effects and motions in the messages. Several pre-made messages are also available to send. Kids can also add onto existing messages and forward them to other users.

Kids can visit Nick.com to see a demonstration of NickMail Maker, but in order to send a message they must be logged on the site. Users can communicate via their "Nick Names" and icons that they use on Nick.com. Nick Messages can only be sent to those who are registered on the Nick website. When a user logs on to the Nick.com site, they will have a message bug alerting them if a Nick Message is waiting for them.

A teaser for NickMail Maker will be located on the Nick.com homepage, near the "My Nick" feature. A help section will also be located on Nick.com so kids can easily navigate the animation process.

NickMail Maker relies entirely on the anonymous registration system that already exists on Nick.com, and it does not allow kids to unwittingly divulge personal, identifiable information. As a result, it is kid-safe and COPPA compliant.

Nick Jr. Video is powered by TurboNick, which launched online in July. TurboNick is a broadband video platform that allows kids to watch short form or full length shows online at any time. Using TurboNick on Nick.com, kids can access video content on their computers through multiple gateways that feature new and classic favorites from the extensive Nickelodeon library, movie trailers, music videos, game demonstrations and live-action programming.

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 ten consecutive years. Nickelodeon is owned by Viacom International Inc.

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Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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