Nickelodeon said its new animated  preschool series Made by Maddie will premiere Sept. 13 at 11 a.m. ET/PT on Nick Jr.

The show, formerly known as Fashion Ally, was created by Paula Rosenthal and produced by Silvergate Media.

Made by Maddie follows an eight-year-old in Manhattan who uses her imagination and ingenuity to solve problems with a fashion fix.

Alyssa Cheatham provides the voice of Maddie and Patina Miller is her fashion-designer mom. Other cast members include James Monroe Ingehart, Sophia Torres, Amanda Dressel and Ames McNamara.

During the first season of 22 half-hour episodes, a large number of guest voices will be featured, including Karamo Brown (Queer Eye); Rhyon Nicole Brown (Empire); Danny Burstein (Broadway’s Moulin Rouge!); David Burtka (Professional Chef); Monét X Change (RuPaul’s Drag Race); Joey Fatone (*NSYNC); Griffin Robert Faulkner (Raising Dion); Nina Garcia (Project Runway); Joy Lynn Jacobs (The Blacklist); Claudia Morcate-Martin (Seneca); Wanya Morris (Boyz II Men); Christine Pedi (Steven Universe); Christiani Pitts (Broadway’s King Kong); Al Roker (Today); D’Angelo Russell (Minnesota Timberwolves); Horatio Sanz (Black Monday); and Nico Tortorella (Younger).

Following the series premiere of Made by Maddie, NickJr.com and the Nick Jr. App will feature short-form content and full-length episodes. Episodes will also be available on Nick Jr. On Demand and Download-To-Own services.

Production of Made by Maddie for Nickelodeon Animation Studio is overseen by Eryk Casemiro, senior VP, Nickelodeon Preschool.

Nickelodeon will resurrect its 1990s pre-school series Blues Clues, part of the more than 800 episodes of new and returning series slated in the upcoming year, the networks announced prior to its Tuesday evening upfront presentation.

The additional episodes – up 20% from last year – is part of the network’s overall strategy of giving it target kids audience an opportunity to experience its content on a variety of platforms and through new technologies such as virtual reality and location-based experiences. 

Among the new shows to hit Nickelodeon in 2018 and 2019 is a remake of Blues Clues, featuring the original animated puppy Blue and an as yet revealed new live-action host, according to the network. The series ran on Nick Jr. from 1996 to 2006 

Also making a comeback to Nickelodeon is a spinoff of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. The animated Rise Of The Mutant Ninja Turtles series will feature the voice of WWE superstar John Cena as villain Baron Draxum, according to the network.

Other new series include Los Casagrandes, a spinoff from the network’s animated series The Loud House featuring show characters Ronnie Anne and his brother Bobby Santiago; and Pony, an animated buddy comedy that follows the life of an average girl whose talking pony comes to live with her and her family.

On the live-action front, new shows include Keep It Spotless, a competition series from the WWE’s John Cena; Knight Squad, a comedy set at a magical school for knights in training; and Musical Dares, a short-form series that features a new twist on the classic concept of musical chairs. 

Signature Nickelodeon series returning with new episodes include Spongebob Squarepants, The Loud House, Henry Danger, The Thundermans and Nicky, Ricky, Dicky and Dawn.

Nickelodeon also announced a new partnership with IMAX to bring its multi-player, virtual reality offering SlimeZone to select IMAX VR Centres globally this month.

Nickelodeon Group President Cyma Zarghami said the network’s rollout of new content and new technological advances represent the network’s efforts to “reinvent” itself for a new generation of audiences accessing content on new generation platforms. While the network is not abandoning its linear TV roots, she said the network has to reach kids where they are with content they want.

“Great IP will take viewers to every platform,” she said. “That’s not to say we’re leaning one way or the other; it is to say that unlike five or 10 years ago when something works, it works everywhere. The reach you get with linear, even with a diminishing universe is still a significant audience.”

Nickelodeon leads off the cable-network upfront season this Thursday (March 2) on a ratings and brand identity roll. Viacom’s recent naming of Nick and Nick Jr. as two of the six core brands that the company will put its resources behind follows the programmer’s strong 2016 performance: It finished as the top kid-targeted cable network on a total day basis in all major kids demos. Nickelodeon Group president Cyma Zarghami spoke with Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead about Nickelodeon’s brand value within a crowded and competitive kids’ content marketplace. Here’s an edited transcript of their conversation.

MCN:From your perspective, what does Viacom’s choice of Nickelodeon as one of its six core franchise network brands mean for the network’s operational strategy?
Cyma Zarghami: One of the things that’s most exciting about it are the global opportunities for the network, because the two places where Nickelodeon has been able to really differentiate itself are global, and our success theatrically in our partnership with Paramount. So with the [Teenage Mutant Ninja] Turtles movies and the SpongeBob [SquarePants] movies — as well as four or five [movies] that we are pretty certain are coming in the next four years — along with the global opportunities to take all this IP even further around the world is exciting.

Also when [Viacom CEO Bob Bakish] called out the flagship brands, Nick Jr. was one of them. I would just add that the preschool success that we’ve had really is a testament to why Nick Jr. is one of those flagships. The success of Paw Patrol, Blaze and The Monster Machines, Shimmer and Shine, Bubble Guppies, Umizoomi and Mutt & Stuff has been an incredibly fruitful and creative journey for us. That’s one of the places where we see a great future.

MCN:How have you adjusted to new competitors like Amazon and Netflix playing aggressively within the kids TV marketplace?
CZ: Well there’s no doubt about it — in the entire industry, there is much more content than ever was before. We are not strangers to the idea that our partners are our competitors, our advertisers and our distribution partners. It’s a complicated web that we weave, but the great thing that remains true about the ecosystem that we’ve been able to create is that it features great content and has a brand identity.

When you think about some of the newcomers in the competitive space, there is a whole lot of content there that fits under one branded identity. I think what still remains true about Nickelodeon is that it stands for something to the audience, and I think that it’s our mission to make sure that brands still means something as the world becomes more commoditized and on-demand.

MCN:What should we expect to hear from Nickelodeon at the upfront?
CZ: One of the things we’ll be talking about at the upfront is the big change in the world that kids are living in, and their response to the world that they’re living in. It really has been a pretty seismic shift when you put it all together, and I think what we have been able to do is really figure out how to connect and be relevant to a new generation of kids. That shift has been going on for about five years, so it’s taken a little while for it to settle, but what we know about the audience now and how we’ve applied that to the content that we’re making has really made all the difference.

So you’ll hear things like authenticity is important to them, family is incredibly important to them, and having friends who are from different backgrounds and religions is important to them. If you look at the content that we’re making, all of those things are seeping their way into the storytelling and the character development in a very organic way, and that’s really making a difference.

MCN:Will Nick be creating new and original programming for digital platforms to reach kids where they are watching video content?
CZ: One of the great things about linear television is that in addition to still [being] the most-watched place for all content, it’s also the biggest marketing tool for new content. Extensions of things that kids see on television that make it to the other platforms rise to the top every single time.

Original content that starts on the other platforms don’t necessarily rise to the top at the same rate or level — it’s just harder. One of the things that still rings true about linear television is that if you are successful you get mass simultaneous reach, and you can’t get that any other way. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be developing for all those other platforms and we shouldn’t make our apps the best they possibly can be, but first you have to build an audience for it.

Viacom will focus on six flagship network brands as it looks to revitalize its core cable business, the company said in its fiscal Q1 ratings report Thursday, including a rebranded Spike TV, which will become Paramount Network.

The company, under CEO Bob Bakish, will put “the full power of Viacom” behind the brands, including BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and Paramount, which in particular will get a major brand boost as it takes over Spike TV in 2018. The new Paramount Network will serve as Viacom’s “premiere general entertainment brand,” combining Spike’s programming and the movie-based Paramount brand.

Viacom's focus on six core cable brands will invevitably come at the expense of other Viacom-owned networks such as VH1, CMT and TV Land.

Viacom also said it will invest in new content experiences, including a first ever dedicated, short-form content unit, and will further extend Viacom’s brand reach through live experiences and consumer products, the company said.

Also the company plans to revitalize and elevate approach to content and talent; deepen partnerships to drive traditional revenue; make moves in the digital word and physical world and continue to optimize and energize the organization.

"Today we share a strategy that will enable Viacom to realize the full potential of its premier global portfolio of entertainment brands,” said Bakish in a statement. “Building on our leading domestic and growing international footprint, this strategy will expand the depth and reach of our flagship brands across multiple platforms and around the world, while also providing for more competitive differentiation and increased adaptability for our business overall. There is much work to be done, but we are confident we have the plan and people to take our brands to greater heights and build a bright future for our company.”

Nickelodeon said it has lit up Nick Jr. apps on Roku devices (pictured) and the Apple TV, expanding beyond its initial reach on iOS smartphones and tablets.

The Nick Jr. app features full-length episodes to authenticated pay TV subs, as well as short-form videos that are free to all consumers.

\Series and shows offered via the Nick Jr. app include PAW Patrol, Blaze and the Monster Machines, Shimmer and Shine and Mutt & Stuff.

Nickelodeon noted that it recently expanded the reach of Noggin, its recently launched standalone OTT subscription offering for preschoolers, to the Android and Apple TV platforms.