Nickelodeon (Middle Eastern and North African TV channel)
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|
 | |
| Country | United Arab Emirates |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Middle East and North Africa |
| Network | Orbit Showtime Network (OSN) |
| Headquarters | Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | Arabic and English |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | ViacomCBS Networks EMEAA (ViacomCBS) |
| Sister channels | NickToons Nick Jr. TeenNick Club MTV MTV 80s MTV 90s MTV 00s MTV Live Comedy Central Paramount Channel |
| History | |
| Launched | 16 July 1996 (as Nick Asia) 23 July 2008 (as the original Nick MENA) 5 January 2015 (relaunch) |
| Replaced | Nickelodeon Asia (Carriage in the Middle East & North Africa) |
| Closed | 8 September 2011 (original) |
| Links | |
| Website | nickelodeonarabia |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| OSN | Channel 355 (HD) |
Nickelodeon is an Arabic pay television channel for kids that is exclusively available on Emirati satellite provider OSN. It is the official Arabic-localised variant of Nickelodeon and until 2011, it was the last remaining channel to retain the 'splat' logo that was used from 1984 to 2009 in the United States.
History[]
 | This section may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. (December 2018) |
Nickelodeon’s Arab channel was launched first launched on 16 July 1996 on Showtime Arabia though it was completely in the English-language Nickelodeon Arabia was a part of the Asian version of the channel. On 23 July 2008, Nickelodeon Arabia was re-launched as a separate free-to-air in Arabic & English.
It was the second channel in the joint venture between Viacom International Media Networks and Arabian Television Network, part of Arab Media Group, the largest media group in the United Arab Emirates, after the successful launch for MTV Arabia (later known as MTV Middle East).[1] The website was nickarabia.net.
By 2011, it was the only Nickelodeon channel worldwide that had not changed its logo from the orange splat to the orange text after the mother company's 2009 rebrand. Since late 2010, the channel had been suffering a frozen broadcast, broadcasting its usual programmes repetitively without any evidence of upcoming updates. Its official website went down, and there were no clear indications or citations for why the channel was being heavily neglected, albeit oddly remaining live for the time being. Regardless, the channel remained live for many months into 2011. A similar situation was happening with its sister channel MTV Arabia.
On 8 September 2011, at one minute past midnight in U.A.E. time, and without a mainstream warning, the channel closed and went on an indefinite hiatus without any explanation. The broadcast signal initially displayed nothing but a static message indicating Nickelodeon Arabia's viewers to continue watching Nickelodeon programmes via the Nickelodeon block on MBC 3. The signal then reverted to a casual test card a few days later, and the channel was de-listed by various satellite television providers before the signal itself disappeared completely.[2]
On 17 December 2014, it was announced that Viacom International Media Networks would launch a related feed of Nickelodeon Arabia (also in HD) on the Dubai-based pay-TV service OSN, along with a Nick Jr. channel. Both channels launched on 5 January 2015 in Arabic only, but later launched an additional English audio track in February 2015. A dedicated Nickelodeon website, social media accounts and an exclusive Nick app were launched.
On January 5, 2015, Nickelodeon Arabia returned on Orbit Showtime Network (OSN) as a related version/part of their children/pre-teen Pay-TV channels.
Related channels[]
Nick Jr.[]
Nick Jr. is a satellite channel for Arab kids that airs Nick Jr. pre-school shows dubbed in Arabic. The channel launched on January 5, 2015 at 10:00 am on OSN along with Nickelodeon Arabia. It also has an English audio.
NickToons[]
Nicktoons is a satellite channel for Arab kids that airs animated Nickelodeon shows dubbed in Arabic. It airs reruns of old Nickelodeon programming in Arabic. The channel launched on February 15, 2017 on OSN.[3]
Nicktoons Arabia uses Nicktoons UK & Ireland's 2014 on-air broadcast design package produced by "Beautiful Creative". It also has an English audio.
TeenNick[]
TeenNick is a video on demand channel for Arab kids that airs Nickelodeon's live-action TV series. It airs reruns of old and new Nickelodeon programming in English with Arabic subtitles. The channel launched on April 15, 2017 on OSN PLAY.[4]
Programming[]
 | This section does not cite any sources. (July 2016) |
The animated shows currently airing on Nickelodeon Arabia are in Arabic and English. The live-action TeenNick shows originally aired in English with Arabic subtitles. However, original social shows produced by Nickelodeon Arabia's own studio, such as Shoof Kids and Jamaatna, were also in Arabic.
Most of the network shows were outdated, older series at the time that have already been cancelled or have ended before their debut, with the exception of SpongeBob SquarePants, although they are considered fairly never-before-seen by most of the Arab audience at one time, in either their English or Arabic formats. There were even several series yet to debut on Nickelodeon Arabia, with exception of The Fairly OddParents, which apparently already settled on Disney Channel Arabia in 2006, and settled on Nicktoons Arabia years later in 2017. Although Fairly OddParents characters did appear in activity segments from Nickelodeon Magazine cutouts.
Like most Arab channels, Nickelodeon did feature censorship, but this is by far limited to simply scenes of French kissing, although any mention of said kisses are retained. This was similar to the censorship on MTV Arabia, but after the relaunch, there is no censorship.
It aired the Nickelodeon India original series Motu Patlu on Nickelodeon Arabia.
Original programming on Nickelodeon's older Channel[]
Catch Match[]
Catch Match (كاتش ماتش) was an original show for Nickelodeon Arabia that was renewed every holy month of Ramadan. It was a kids' game show that had two opposing teams compete in a variety of physical challenges to gain the most points. This show was hosted by the announcer Taj Aser, and was filmed on location in Jeddah.[5][6]
Shoof Kids[]
Shoof Kids was an original show that featured home-made videos sent in by viewers.[1]
References[]
- ^ a b "Nickelodeon Arabia set to go on air on Wednesday". Emirates 27/7. 20 July 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
- ^ "Change Log - KingOfSat".
- ^ "Viacom and OSN Launch Nicktoons Arabia".
- ^ "Viacom and OSN Launch Nicktoons and TeenNick Channels in the Middle East".
- ^ "Nick Shows". NickArabia.net. Viacom International Inc. Archived from the original on 5 September 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
- ^ http://www.okaz.com.sa/new/issues/20110730/Con20110730436998.htm
External links[]
- Nickelodeon
- Children's television networks
- Television channels and stations disestablished in 2011
- Television channels and stations established in 2015
- Television channels and stations established in 2008
- Television stations in the United Arab Emirates
- Television stations in Saudi Arabia
- Television stations in Egypt
- Television channels in Jordan
- Television stations in Libya
- Television stations in Lebanon
- Television stations in Iraq
- Television stations in Algeria
- Television stations in Tunisia
- Television stations in Kuwait
- Television stations in Morocco
- Television stations in the State of Palestine
- Television channels in Syria
- Television stations in Yemen
- Re-established companies
- Television channels in Mauritania
- 1996 establishments in Asia
- 1996 establishments in Africa