Nick Jr. (known on-
air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay
television channel spun off from Nickelodeon'
s long-running programming block of the same
name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's
Kids and Family Group. The channel launched on September 28, 2009, and primarily targets preschoolers. Its lineup features a mix of originally-produced programming, along with series from the Nickelodeon weekday block; because of the two entities, Nick Jr. is known on-
air as "the Nick Jr. Channel" (as of March
2018) to avoid confusion, especially at times of
day where both services are carrying preschool programming.
The channel replaced Noggin, which was relaunched as a streaming service in 2015 and acts as a separate
sister brand. Noggin's programming is distinct from the Nick Jr. channel's, it mainly carried pre-teen-oriented programs at its launch, and its 2015 streaming service features a variety of exclusive series.
The Nick Jr. channel and the Nick Jr. block are both currently running. The latter airs weekdays on Nickelodeon from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET (those hours vary during the summer months, other school
break periods and on major national holidays), having traditional commercial breaks for certain programs. As of September
2018, Nick Jr. is available to approximately 70.310 million pay television households in the United States.