Nickelodeon's Early Years Were...Interesting. 

I am thirty years old. I just today learned nickelodeon was an actual word before Nickelodeon.

I'm pretty sure Spongebob isn't actually a kid. He's an adult with childlike tendencies.

To everyone confused, Nickelodeon is the first ever 24 Hr Kids TV Network. Cartoon Network was the world's first 24Hr Animation Network.

As a graphic designer, I find it fascinating how much Nickelodeon's success was due to rebranding

I like the juxtaposition of the original logo, but only because I'm an adult and I get the irony. I would have skipped over that channel as a kid.

its crazy in hindsight because the logo thing was basically like “what if we made a kids channel appeal to children?”

I can't lie, Nickelodeon's unhealthy obsession with Spongebob is starting to make me miss the old Nickelodeon.

I remember watching Titanic as an eleven-year-old. When Jack said, "I saw this on Nickelodeon once", I was confused. I mean, the movie takes place in 1912. This was before the advent of sound films, let alone cable TV. Then, I asked my dad about it, and he explained where the name originated, and what it was.

It’s incredibly difficult for me to view Nickelodeon’s old footage and marketing material and believe it was actually them! It’s so different from what I grew with during the late 90s and 2000s. Props to Fred/Allen Inc. for transforming it so successfully.

Looking back at their earliest attempts at marketing looks like a disaster now, but this was really the first time children were marketed to as their own demographic to this extent. Children have always had toys and stories for all of human history, but this was the first time anyone was creating a TV network just for them. They had no idea what they were doing.

Fun fact: Hillenberg and his team actually pushed back on Nick insisting SpongeBob be a kid. The whole boating school idea came as a compromise between them and network execs who wanted SpongeBob in a classroom environment.

What I find funny is how CN, Nick's biggest rival, is currently owned by Warner, which was originally founded with a similar goal and had Fred Seibert also play a role in their success, but actually managed to avoid this same issue because Ted Turner actually had a plan from the beginning: rerun old shows so they could create original content.

It's funny, I always thought Nickelodeon started in 1984, not sure why, guess that's just when they started gaining traction. Had no idea they were on the air as early as 1979!

Imagine if Fred and Alan declined the deal with WB. So much would've been different. SpongeBob probably wouldn't even exist.

It’s sad to see how the network declined with time.

This channel is incredibly underrated. Stupendous production on this one.

Growing up Canadian, I never knew about nickelodeon as a channel, only that their shows would play on YTV or Teletoon. This was in interesting history to help fill in those cultural gaps!

I'm a gen-X er, so I lived through the golden age of Nickelodeon, and I have quite a bit of nostalgia for the channel as it was in the early to mid 80s. I can't count how many rainy Saturday afternoons I spent glued to the channel. SOOOOooooo many memories. Now I just feel old looking back on how long ago that was.

I was born in 1991 and was privileged to enjoy Nickelodeon’s heyday…the 90s and early 2000s really were a golden time for ‘Nick’, SO MANY GOOD SHOWS! Rugrats, Hey Arnold, Doug, Wild Thornberrys, Rocket Power, yeah i could go on and on about the cartoons, but there was MORE too! Kid friendly sitcoms like Kenan and Kel, great anthology comedies like ‘KABLAM!’ And ‘All That’, game shows such as ‘Figure it Out’ ‘Double Dare’ and ‘Hidden Temple’, even kid oriented News and Awards shows. They literally had EVERYTHING YOU NEEDED right there if you were between the ages of 5 and 16. It was THE CHANNEL TO WATCH.

I grew up with Nickelodeon during the early 90s. Everything from Ren and Stimpy to Rocko's Modern Life as well as seasons after seasons of Rugrats was perhaps their most popular series long before Spongebob Squarepants.

Never thought a history on Nickelodeon would be so interesting. Definately felt a lot of nostalgia watching the vid! Excited for new content to come, especially with the sick set up! 🔥

I was born in the mid-80s myself, so needless to say, I had the honor of seeing Nickelodeon grow along with me, lol. I got to watch Pinwheel as a toddler, and I got to watch the first-ever Nicktoons as a kid in the first grade. And this is a great video. It's nice to see the history of what made this cornerstone of my childhood memories.

The foot variant of the classic logo is Dan Schneider’s favorite.

Kids may be easily influential, but they’re not stupid.

I love the Nickelodeon silver ball logo. It’s so distinctly 1980’s.

That metallic rainbow logo is a vibe, but I admit the slime-themed secondary color scheme fits the channel more

Early Nick did have one great, iconic show: You Can’t Do That On Television. That literally had a recurring bit about kids that were going to be executed by firing squad. Plus it gave us slime. If there’s anything Nick is known for, it’s the orange splat, and slime.

Nick was a staple of hot summers hanging out with my cousins in our grandmother's cool basement. Lots of fond memories surrounding a crazy tv station of all things. Looking forward to your future videos! Good stuff here

Cool new setup, interesting video as usual too! I had no idea Nick was born so early in the history of children's animation, always assumed it started up in the 90s since that's when most of their iconic IPs got made. Here's to more nostalgia deep dives, excited to see how 2023 treats your channel!

Can't believe Nick started as a less engaging PBS! Great vid, really loved learning the history behind my fav channel as a 90s kid

I love how historically, executives make the absolute worst decisions and try to stomp down everything that makes things good, the story is always "Y'know that thing you love? Some old crusty fucks hated it and made artists fight tooth and nail for any hint of their artistic visions being developed!" time is a flat circle and CEO's must be fed to croccodiles

The history of Nickelodeon in Germany was kind of rocky, too. In started broadcast ist in october 1995 and endet in September 1998. It often shared its slot with different tv-stations like "arte" or "vh1". The tv landscape was different in Germany. Each TV Station had a timeslot for children's tv in afternoon and/or on saturday morning. RTL2 was becoming a go-to station for anime like Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon and Pokemon. SuperRTL was at frist branded for families but soon became a kids-channel. In the same time, the public broadcast stations founded the Kinderkanal (short Kika), without adds. SuperRTL broadcasted Disney Shows like Pepper Ann and Hotel Zack and Cody, and later Nicktoons like Fairly Odd Parents and Songebob. Since 2010 it is back again under the short name "nick" or the long "Nickelodeon". Nickelodeon in the 90's was a strange place. You had these surreal shows like "Ren and Stimpy" and "Pete and Pete" but also the more slice-of-live ones like "Clarissa" and "Doug".

Having been born just a few years after Nick was created, it was a big part of my childhood. The orange splat logo, tune, and many of the commercials are still firm in my memory.

This was so nostalgic and awesome! Where would we be without Patrick.

I've just come across this channel. How on earth does this channel only have 12k subscribers? I'm shocked with how professional and informative this content is that you would have a larger audience. This channel is definitely going to blow up soon I feel it.

Growing up watching Nickelodeon (and MTV) in the early 90s, I remember the jingles and all of the orange splats and green slime. The time era from Rugrats, Ren & Stimpy, Rocko's Modern Life, Double Dare, Salute Your Shorts, up to the earlier seasons of SpongeBob were their golden times.

That weird moment you realize Warner created Nickelodeon, Viacom just bought it. Then Warner went and merged with Turner which created Cartoon Network.

I grew up on Nickelodeon in the early 90s. I also really miss “Nick at Nite” which turned me onto shows like Get Smart, Dragnet, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Donna Reed when I was about 8 years old. What a time to watch Nick and other networks like “The Comedy Channel” / CTV (later Comedy Central) and Cartoon Network find their brand and footing in the cable landscape.

The Pinwheel Network was awesome. I loved Pinwheel as a kid. The start of a media juggernaut (You missed part of the network's history, although you did include pinwheel clips, nice!) This was a hardcore nostalgia trip for 45 year old eyes. Thanks for it!

That's so cool to know that there was an actual doo-wop band who wrote that. I always assumed it was either leftover music from an earlier project or public domain. I loved that logo era

I miss the days where executives would listen to the creatives. They were hesitant each time but ultimately trusted the vision. But also, people don’t build brands like they used to so I kinda get it.

Considering I’m a 90’s kid, the idea that there was a time you could be made fun of for watching Nickelodeon is wild to me.

That footprint Nickelodeon logo... You could imagine why Dan Schneider joined Nickelodeon.

I'm only a little over 6 minutes into the video, but I want to applaud it! Your professionalism, editing, clear and nice speaking voice- well researched topic... You've (so far) done an amazing job! I will surely be looking into your channel.

im german and it came out here in the 90s... but i can remember i loved the shows.. rugrats... rocos modern life... ahh monsters...clarissa ... ren and stimpy

Nickelodeon in late 90s Germany was a scuffed experience. I think they only aired until 8 or 9 pm and then took a break until 7 or 8 in the morning. I think it also completely died at one point until it picked up steam again years later. But the programs were pretty cool and it already had the iconic orange splatter behind the name, which was recognizable by anyone you asked. I also didn't know about the origin of the name until it was cleared up in this video. Didn't really care about it either to be honest. I just assumed it was a funny name someone came up with.

Rocko’s modern life was the exception to the all shows are about kids rule, since all the main characters were in their 20’s.

Actually, early 80s Nickelodeon was pretty cool. I watched the channel up until the end of the decade, but the first half of the 80s is the time I most fondly remember. They didn't have a lot of original programs in those days so they showed a lot of these weird but cool cartoons and sci-fi shows from Britain like Danger Mouse, the original Tomorrow People and the Third Eye. Those were some of my favorite shows when I was a kid back then.

Born in 87 so I've got to see the best of the best in cable television

That end of video gag was perfect. Thank you for your service.

Great video...was actually born nearly 2 months after Nick first signed on, so I have vague memories of the "silver ball" era, but would agree that the channel really first hit its stride after the 1984 rebranding/focus shift.

A couple of things to say here I Silver ball era nostalgic. Go onto the videos that contain the pinwheel theme song or Silver ball era bumpers, and you’ll find comments that do find this eras nostalgic and memorable signifying that it wasn’t all negativity and hate Eras for Nickelodeon (based on idents [like CN] and programming quality) Prelaunch/ Pinwheel era - 1977-1979 Old timey era - 1979 - 1980 Silver ball era - 1980 - 1984/5 Classic era - 1984/5 - 1990 Toons era - 1991 - 2001 Decline era - 2001 - 2009 Low era - 2010 - 2022 Modern Classic era - 2023 - present

That floating metal ball advertisement looks like it's from Phantasm. I'd be terrified if I saw that as a kid.

I remember being 5 yrs old, in 1984 and tuning into Nickelodeon everyday. Loved "You can't do that on television"

Okay, I was a kid when that silver ball logo existed for Nickelodeon. I had completely forgot about it. To be fair, Nickelodeon had only been recently added to my family's cable line up and it wasn't too long before the orange logo came along.....and like you said, kids weren't really watching the channel and that includes me. Some of my younger cousins who lived in a different city were actually the first in my family to ever even get Nickelodeon with their cable package, but they had the premium channels HBO and Disney which meant that when I came to visit them I usually wanted to watch Fraggle Rock on HBO or watch Disney Channel more than Nickelodeon. Don't get me wrong, I was excited as a kid when we got it since it was another channel my parents let me watch, it just took awhile for me to find things I wanted to watch. Once I did get to where I enjoyed watching You Can't Do That On Television, Count Duckula, Danger Mouse, and so many other shows it became my favorite channel to watch. I still watched Saturday morning cartoons on the broadcast networks, some cartoon/kids lineups on other cable channels (USA Cartoon Express) and still occasionally watched shows on PBS (Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego, Square One TV, and so on), but Nickelodeon was the channel my little 13 inch tv in my bedroom was on the most. We didn't get Cartoon Network until my junior year of high school (which I was super excited about because then I could watch Dexter's Lab) and by my sophomore year in college my family's cable now included Disney Channel (even though Mickey Mouse Club was no longer a thing that aired on it) as part of the basic lineup (but by then my parents had upgraded to include Starz, Encore, HBO). I didn't know about the early years of Nickelodeon or why it was even started, but I'm glad they kept trying and it eventually worked. I completely agree that the decision to make it feel like a space run by kids for kids is what helped draw kids in. I was just such a kid and I do remember feeling like it was a channel that didn't just have kid's programming, but that it felt like it was run by kids (even though I knew adults were still ultimately in control of course). That definitely seperated it from other channels where it felt like it was more like kids were just included and had special blocks of programming. This is a great video! Thanks for making it and letting me learn more about a channel that was a big part of child and teen years! Between still remembering "Nick Nick Nick Nick Nick Nick Nickelodeon" theme for that channel and the special preview periods for Disney Channel with the lady operator who'd come on at least three or four times between promos about upcoming shows, etc, between shows ("Hi, my name's Nancy. I'm an operator here at the Disney Channel. I hope you're enjoying our free (insert season: fall, spring, fall, winter) preview. This is just a sample of the programming Disney Channel offers you and your family. From award winning Disney films to Disney Channel exclusives, there's something for everyone. Call and subscribe today and for a limited time you could get (insert whatever freebie things they were giving away to new subscribers)." It's amazing the things that stick in our minds, especially from childhood. I mean my mom and dad watched Dallas every week and so even though I didn't watch the show, I knew the theme song....because my parents let me stay in to watch the opening credits. I even remember the theme song from a local news tv station KWTV from my childhood with the main chorus being "It's the Spirit of Oklahoma....TV 9!...but like I know the whole brief song. Of course I know the BC Clark anniversary sale jingle, but that's literally played every Christmas season in Oklahoma so I doubt that anyone who grew up in Oklahoma could forget it!). This is such a great video that really covered a lot and included lots of clips from shows I haven't watched in a very long time. Thanks for the knowledge and the bit of nostalgia as well!!!!

If Nickelodeon had shut down in the early 80s, there probably would be no SpongeBob, no Rugrats, no Drake And Josh, no Hey Arnold, no Kenan And Kel, no Blue's Clues, no Jimmy Neutron, no Avatar, no Dora, and many, many, MANY other shows. Okay, those shows probably would still exist, but they wouldn't be Nickelodeon programs.

im 36, Nick will always hold a special place in my heart. there was nothing better than sitting down infront of the tv on weekends or after school and watching nick. Not only the shows were great, everything shown on that channel was ICONIC! My personnel fav is Stick Stickley

While I kind of agree with the network heads about the logo and sound choices, I'm glad it won out. Not because of the hindsight that it obviously worked, but because studio heads are so often trying to just follow trends. And a huge reason the rebranding probably worked was because it was so different from everything else at the time. This formula is obvious over most of media history. Doing something bold and unique makes you stand out as the trend setter. But back then, as now, studios are all trying to play it safe and copy each other. Today, we have even more overly homogenized logos and endless reboot/formula shows.

My first memories of Nickelodeon were kids getting slimed on "You Can't Do That On Television". I also vividly remember when Nicktoons came out with rugrats and Doug and I wanna say "ahh real monsters" but I'm not sure I miss those times so much 😢

very excited for the future of slow start. BIG THINGS ARE COMIN BABY

I found yo channel when you just had about 5k subs. Seeing the growth of a small channel into a soon to be youtube titian is crazy! You truley love to see it!

Fun fact: Nickelodeon used to be called Pinwheel.

big fan of this video! imo, it takes a crazy amount of effort to successfully condense the basics of nick's early history into 20 minutes. kudos!

Every canadian: thats why the suite life of zack and cody feels so... family channel. Haha maan i love these videos im literally waiting on the next one

Basically my childhood for TV right there.. As a 40 yr old now the early Rugrats and Doug footage was a hit of nostalgia for the week. TYVM for the vid

I don’t usually stay for ads or even announcements on channels I regularly watch, but I stayed for the end of this vid and you were really funny and refreshing. Subbed

The idea of having a second channel itself was groundbreaking. Here in Canada channels were naturally split by language, French and English...

This channel is super underrated. Keep up the great work, this content is amazing that you do for the history of channels/shows/games/companies/etc. Really cool content especially for younger audiences that aren't familiar with the long histories behind things. With time you'll keep gaining traction. Followed you after your Jimmy Neutron vid I saw a few days ago. 💪

I stumbled in here during the tail-end of a home from work/sick day YT bender. Your vid pulled me, unceremoniously, out of a damn strange cold-meds-induced but still literal fever dream. So, thanks for that. But, about your video: It's very well done. Outstanding, even. You've clearly done your research. Like, actual research. Not only Google-Fu. As a quick aside, I'm perpetually amazed that a damn good chunk of the world's knowledge can be accessed, in multiple forms, from the literal palm of one's hand. But Im also 45 y/o, grew up w/ afternoon/Sat cartoons, where, if you had to take a piss, really bad, tough shit. You're def gonna miss part of your show. No pause, no way. And that episode may not get repeated EVER AGAIN. But I digress. I really just wanted to compliment your video production & flow. Its a pleasure when what is essentially a 'video essay' can grab one's interest--and keep it. Good job. Subbed.

You got me with the "how do you do fellow kids" 😂😂😂😂 i wasnt expecting it.

6 ads in a 20 minute video

one of Nick's first shows were Pinwheel which showed the once lost "Clockman" short.

14:14. At some point, ol’ Dan “gotta get inside her” Schneider looked around at all the different kids show channels. He saw Nick had the feet logo, and he knew he’d be right at home there.

Oh that beginning bit... Rest In Peace, Teletoon.

you’re making such interesting and well researched content that you’re clearly passionate about keep doing what you’re doing! you’re gaining traction and i’m sure soon you will blow up

Your channel is incredible. You will have millions of subscribers, please keep pushing content. The quality is just so excellent.

This channel is seriously about to blow up

Thank you for this awesome video! As someone who's in marketing and design that grew up during the golden era of Nick, this was such an insightful look at how the channel really evolved to become what it always aspired to be. I even vividly remember the first cable channel we tuned to was Nick and it was a Rugrats episode where they were at a pool! The vintage vibes of the original logo, marketing, etc are really cool but yeah that would've been so boring to me as a kid. The introduction of Nicktoons also really helped build its brand identity, too, but we wouldn't have had those if it wasn't for the bold ideas and pushing to make those ideas come to life.

Fred and Alan sure were clever, but so are you! Impressive video and compilation of information. New subscriber here.

Glad they brought the splat back earlier this March.

I was shocked when I went to subscribe to your channel and discovered how few subscribers you have! This is really good stuff! Thanks for the time you put into this!

I’m a 43 year old & was lucky enough to have been the prime target demographic for the Golden Age of Nickelodeon. I must say that you 100% nailed it! Have you ever considered doing la part 2 from the early 1990’s to present?

In my opinion, I love the 1983 logo even more than the 1984 and 2009 logos. I wish they rather used that font for the 2023 orange splat.

hey dude, I actually remember my grandparents getting cable in the late 80s and nickelodeon was an amazing breath of fresh air (after spending the previous couple years dialing-in the rabbit ears on a small TV just to watch turtles, ghostbusters, and rescue rangers lol). I was glad to see some interesting kids' content at the time, still layered with broadcast-network (abc, nbc, cbs) cartoon blocks and funky public television stuff (321 contact and Square One, specifically). I may have spent a little too much time watching TV into my teen years, but my older sister and I still have fond memories of the debut episodes of Doug, Rugrats, and Ren & Stimpy, and Nick was a fantastic catalyst of creative expression for so many of my friends at the time. It really was a wonderful experience

Fantastic video, giving me defunctland vibes. Keep it up man! Excited to see you grow

So happy this came across my feed. Amazing video essay with TOP NOTCH editing.

I started watching Nickelodeon around '83-'84. My earliest memory was watching You Can't Do That on Television

I had no idea that Nickelodeon aired since the late 70's. I was a baby back then... But I shouldn't be surprised. Anyway, my family didn't get the network till around the mid to late 80's. My brother and I thought it was so neat to have a network just for us. Watched till about the late 90s-early 2000's when we became adults. Although I watched the 2012 TMNT show on the network, but that's about it after that.

Keep doing what you are doing since its working, its fun to see a channel with real potential grow.

I'm gonna fall in love of this channel so fk hard.. I'm glad that I arrived here when there's "only" 10k subs. Keep it going, you're going places.

Just found your channel, you should have millions of followers, quality stuff. Takes me back to my childhood

So the foot logo was around long before Dan Schneider started there

the silver ball could not scream 80s any harder if it tried

This was really great. I just found your channel through your shrek products video and instantly subbed. Keep up the good work!

I've heard at least a few of Nick's shows from those days are fondly remembered like You Can't Do That On Television and Mr. Wizard, I also recall there being a show called Out of Control that was discussed in a book about early Nick called Slimed.

Your editing is awesome! First time viewer here; definitely liked and subscribed! As others have pointed out, while SpongeBob is very child-like; he is technically an adult sponge. But his character is very relatable to kids and in a way I think is like a wish fulfillment for every kid that wants to continue to be a kid as they advance into the adult world…something to think about 😊

English is not my first language but we had Nickelodeon here as well, I used to ask adults what it meant and they said "probably made it up, dunno". Thanks for explaining the origin, it has cleared up a small thing from my childhood!

wishing you the best. im DEFINITELY from the beginnings of Nickelodeon. you took it back and foward in a great way. one.

I miss Nickelodeon Adult Hour, where they would play adult movies at midnight even was producing their own.

The best Nick show of all time is You Can't Do That On Television. It is impossible to explain the impact that show had and still has