PhilipB
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Nickelodeon UK is to launch its first new channel for six years, targeting children aged five to seven.
Cartoon channel Nick Toonsters is pitched as the "younger sister" of the slightly male-skewing Nick Toons, and will feature The Rugrats, Cat Dog, The Wild Thornberries and Hey Arnold from Nickelodeon's back catalogue.
The channel will air between 7am and 7pm on Sky from 18 August, although its EPG slot has yet to be confirmed.
Managing director Howard Litton said: "We've got a huge catalogue of amazing stuff that doesn't fit with the Nick Toons vibe and feels a bit too young for Nickelodeon - but for kids growing out of Dora the Explorer and Lazy Town [on Nick Jr], Rugrats and Hey Arnold are a gentle introduction to that kind of squash and stretch animation."
He added that the new channel - Nickelodeon UK's sixth - will have a "distinctive, retro feel".
The broadcaster will not commission any original content for Nick Toonsters for the first two years of the channel launch, but it is "hopeful" that it will originate new UK programmes after that.
"We're going to suck it and see," Litton said. "If the channel resonates and the kids are looking at it and the parents are buying into it, then we'll take it from there."
He added that classic cartoons such as Rugrats still "stand up" to young viewers because their production standards are so high compared with some of the content currently being produced. "It comes from a time when cell animation was at its peak and they didn't cut corners. It's art, and like all good works of art it ages well."
Nickelodeon will launch Nick Toonsters by showing all the Rugrats episodes ever made in a single week. The channel will sit alongside Nickelodeon's five existing channels: Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Nick Jr, Nick Jr 2 and Nick Replay.
Yes! A classic Nicktoons channel, finally!
Cartoon channel Nick Toonsters is pitched as the "younger sister" of the slightly male-skewing Nick Toons, and will feature The Rugrats, Cat Dog, The Wild Thornberries and Hey Arnold from Nickelodeon's back catalogue.
The channel will air between 7am and 7pm on Sky from 18 August, although its EPG slot has yet to be confirmed.
Managing director Howard Litton said: "We've got a huge catalogue of amazing stuff that doesn't fit with the Nick Toons vibe and feels a bit too young for Nickelodeon - but for kids growing out of Dora the Explorer and Lazy Town [on Nick Jr], Rugrats and Hey Arnold are a gentle introduction to that kind of squash and stretch animation."
He added that the new channel - Nickelodeon UK's sixth - will have a "distinctive, retro feel".
The broadcaster will not commission any original content for Nick Toonsters for the first two years of the channel launch, but it is "hopeful" that it will originate new UK programmes after that.
"We're going to suck it and see," Litton said. "If the channel resonates and the kids are looking at it and the parents are buying into it, then we'll take it from there."
He added that classic cartoons such as Rugrats still "stand up" to young viewers because their production standards are so high compared with some of the content currently being produced. "It comes from a time when cell animation was at its peak and they didn't cut corners. It's art, and like all good works of art it ages well."
Nickelodeon will launch Nick Toonsters by showing all the Rugrats episodes ever made in a single week. The channel will sit alongside Nickelodeon's five existing channels: Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, Nick Jr, Nick Jr 2 and Nick Replay.
Yes! A classic Nicktoons channel, finally!
