Nick Jr. and Noggin are combining their creative and management teams into one unified group: Nickelodeon Preschool, the largest preschool and parent's destination in the world, with 109 hours of preschool television per week, representing 56% of all preschool programming on television, officials said Tuesday.
The new preschool team will be led by Brown Johnson, who was named executive vice president and executive creative director of Nickelodeon Preschool and general manager of Noggin.
In addition, Teri Weiss was promoted to senior VP of development and production for Nickelodeon Preschool, while Angela Leaney was named senior VP and creative director.
Johnson, a 19-year Nick veteran, has been the driving force behind Nick Jr. and its groundbreaking preschool properties including Blue's Clues, Dora the Explorer, Go, Diego, Go!, The Wonder Pets! and The Backyardigans, among many others.
In her new role, Johnson will oversee development and production for all preschool programming across Nickelodeon networks, including Nick Jr., Nick's programming block dedicated to preschoolers seen in 92 million homes, and Noggin, Nick's commercial-free digital educational network for preschoolers, now seen in 54 million homes.
Johnson joined Nickelodeon in 1988 as executive in charge of production and in 1989 was promoted to VP of production for Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, where she oversaw all Nickelodeon production, production management, talent and Nickelodeon Studios' production staff in Florida.
In 1993, Johnson became VP and executive producer of Nick Jr. production and development. She was promoted to Nick Jr.’s executive VP in 2001.
Weiss will report to Johnson, and she expands her role to developing and producing the next generation of hit series. Most recently, Weiss was VP of development and production, and she was responsible for many of Nick Jr.'s current preschool hits including Dora, Diego and Wonder Pets.
Weiss joined Nick in 1999 as executive in charge of production for Dora.
In her new role, Leaney will report to Johnson and will bring her unique branding experience and creative eye to Nick Jr. and Noggin. In addition, Leaney will partner with Nick marketing and Nick Digital to continue to build both brands.
Most recently, Leaney was senior VP of brand communications, where she was responsible for the strategic branding, on-air and online promotion and marketing of Noggin and The N, the nighttime network for teens. Leaney joined Noggin in 2000 as VP of marketing.
