The N (standing for Noggin) was a prime time and late night programming block on the Noggin television channel, aimed at preteens and teenagers. It was launched on April 1, 2002, by MTV Networks and Sesame Workshop. Before the block's introduction, Noggin's daytime lineup included tween shows like A Walk in Your Shoes, Sponk!, and Big Kids. In 2002, Noggin restructured its daytime lineup to cater to preschool children. From then onward, the shows targeted to older children only aired during the night as part of The N.
The N focused on shows that promoted personal development, and the block was described as "an educational twin" of Nickelodeon's teen blocks. The N's original shows were created with educational goals, which was uncommon for teen programming at the time. The block was managed by the same team that made Noggin's preschool shows; the team considered it a challenge to focus on both preschoolers and an older audience at the same time, but they felt that Noggin and The N had a consistent, unified brand identity because both were educational. To create shows for The N, Noggin created research groups to determine their shows' topics. They decided to create shows that educated older children for their futures through cautionary tales, life lessons, and realistic depictions of growing up.
In August 2002, Sesame Workshop sold its stake in Noggin, but it continued to produce shows for Noggin and The N, including Out There. The N launched a variety of spin-off media, such as live events and a soundtrack album. From 2007 to 2009, the block was moved from Noggin to a new channel, which carried TEENick programming throughout the day and relegated The N's content to a block at night. In 2009, TEENick and The N were merged to form TeenNick. The TeenNick channel was based on TEENick's branding and shows, and it stopped repeating The N's series in 2015. According to Polygon, "Nickelodeon began phasing out The N's programming and replacing it with TEENick, an entertainment block with no educational curriculum and zero involvement from Noggin. The N lost its footing by 2009, and both [The N] and its website closed down completely."
History
Origins
The Noggin channel launched on February 2, 1999. When Noggin started, many of its shows were aimed at tweens. One of the channel's goals was to "dispel the conventional wisdom that educational programming is not entertaining enough to attract pre-teens and young adults." The channel aired three blocks: a main block of tween shows throughout the day, a block for preschoolers in the early morning, and a block of "adult retro" series at night. The nighttime block received low ratings. Noggin's most notable effort to increase its nighttime viewership was a primetime block called The Hubbub, which allowed viewers to send comments through Noggin's website and see them on TV. Ratings never improved, and The New York Times called Noggin's nighttime promotions "several failed efforts at nocturnal programming." This prompted Noggin's executives to reformat the channel.
By April 1, 2002, Noggin had discarded its retro block and expanded the preschool and tween blocks to 12 hours each. The preschool block, also called "the daytime block," aired from 6a.m. to 6p.m. each day. The tween block ran from 6p.m. to 6a.m. daily, and it was retitled "The N". It took several months for Noggin to choose the new name for the tween block; as reported by Kidscreen in 2002, they wanted a name to "help distance and distinguish the tween programming from the preschool fare," but the legal department also required that the block's name be related to the name of the channel.
The N, like the rest of the Noggin channel, was launched as a joint venture of Viacom and Sesame Workshop. Noggin unveiled the logo for The N in January 2002. The first logo was a rounded hand symbol with "The N" on the palm and a matching rounded label underneath, reading "NOGGIN". The logo was often simplified without the Noggin label at the bottom; when the channel name was not a part of the logo, taglines were used to describe Noggin as The N's namesake instead. These taglines included "The N: The new name for nighttime on Noggin" and "The N: Noggin's teen network".
Developing the block
All of The N's web content and shows were owned by Noggin LLC, the same company that owned Noggin's preschool shows. Noggin's preschool and The N blocks were both managed by a group of people in Noggin's New York office. The Noggin team aimed to give The N's shows similar educational sensibilities to their preschool shows; they wanted The N's shows to be sophisticated and complex, to separate them from "lesser network fare" like sitcoms.