NOGGIN, Nickelodeon's commercial-free, educational network for kids 2-5 launched three new series for spring, OOBI, TWEENIES and MIFFY AND FRIENDS on April 7, 2003.
MIFFY AND FRIENDS is a stop-motion series airing daily at 7:00 am, based on the award-winning book series by renowned Dutch artist, Dick Bruna. Miffy is a soft, white bunny who sees life with her fuzzy little friends through the eyes of a four-year-old. MIFFY weaves together simple animated tales with new interactive games on NOGGIN's Website, noggin.com, where Miffy helps preschoolers appreciate mathematical relationships in the everyday world. MIFFY is produced by Mercis bv in the Netherlands and is represented by Big Tent Entertainment in New York City. There are more than 100 MIFFY titles translated into more than 40 languages. Mercis bv also licenses MIFFY products with some 250 licensees for MIFFY worldwide, featuring more than 10,000 products (www.miffy.com).
The other new series include OOBI airing at 8:30 a.m., featuring bare-hand puppets, an educational show as well for pre-schoolers, as well as TWEENIES, airing at 7:30 am, a British show with full-body puppets produced by Tell-Tale Proud Productions. NOGGIN also launched new on-air and online branding based on the position that "NOGGIN is like Preschool on TV" a place on-air and online where kids can gain curricular knowledge in thematic blocks. These blocks are tied together by on-air/online "teacher," Moose A. Moose and his sidekick, Zee the bird, who leads viewers from one activity to the next. "Preschool has become an integral part of childhood learning in America," said Tom Ascheim, general manager, NOGGIN. "Though we cannot replace a real preschool, we're excited to echo its methodology and focus for our shared audience."
As part of the new schedule, NOGGIN features in its own daily afternoon block from 2-6 pm of shows from Nick Jr., now branded "Nick Jr. on NOGGIN." This block includes BOB THE BUILDER, DORA THE EXPLORER, MAGGIE AND THE FEROCIOUS BEAST and OSWALD, along with Nick Jr. favorites such as BLUE'S CLUES, GULLAH GULLAH ISLAND and LITTLE BEAR. NOGGIN continues to feature educational staples such as SESAME STREET and BLUE'S CLUES, as well as the interactive, educational original series, PLAY WITH ME SESAME. NOGGIN/The N, owned by Nickelodeon, reaches 34 million households via cable, digital cable and satellite. NOGGIN is programmed for preschoolers and The N is for tweens. (www.noggin.com and www.the-n.com).
