Nickelodeon plans to give birth
to a new comedy-themed programming
block on Nick. Jr. as part of its new Nick-
Mom multiplatform offering.
The Nick Jr. programming block, scheduled
to premiere in fourth-quarter 2012
and to run nightly from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.,
will feature original long- and short-form
original and acquired series, including
talk shows, documentary series, and
standup and sketch comedy shows during
its nightly timeslot.
“We’re going to celebrate motherhood
one funny moment at a time, which is
kind of the way we look at kids and our
roles as moms,” Nickelodeon Networks
president Cyma Zarghami told Multichannel
News.
Nickelodeon already has 30 projects in
development for NickMom, as well as development
deals with production companies
Eyeworks USA and Mad Cow; actress/
author Annabelle Gurwitch (You Say Tomato,
I Say Shut Up, Fired!, Dinner & a
Movie); and Emmy award-winning writer
Hugh Fink (head writer, The Late Late
Show With Craig Ferguson and writer, Saturday
Night Live).
NickMom launches today (Nov. 14) as
a blog on the programmer’s
ParentsConnect.com site
before eventually expanding
into a full, mom-focused
website featuring video content,
social media applications,
blogs and editorial
content, Nick officials said.
While there’s a lot of howto
and expert information
about motherhood and
child-raising on the Web,
Zarghami said, there’s no
entertainment destination
relating to the experiences
of motherhood targeted to
women.
“There’s a lot of how-to,
expert advice and information,
and shared heartwarming
experiences on the
Web; but we know how to do
entertainment and comedy,”
she said.
“There’s a lot of
stuff out there for moms, but
nothing specifically targeted
to moms.”
Also, with one-third of today’s
moms having grown
up on Nickelodeon and 56%
of moms already watching
Nick and Nick Jr. with their kids, the NickMom franchise
is a natural for the network. Nick has offered a Web destination
to parents via ParentsConnect.com, but has realized
that mothers have more of a collective voice than
fathers do.
“There are a whole lot of women who watch Nick at Nite,
there are a whole lot of women who watch preschool [content]
with their kids and there are a whole lot of women
that advertisers like to target,” she said. “There is a unique
sensibility and a very large automatic community amongst
mothers that is different than dads — not better or worse,
but just different. There were a lot of things pointing at us
doing something for moms with the sensibility that we do
everything else.”
Nickelodeon has already secured two charter sponsors
for NickMom in General Mills and Reckitt Benckiser. While
the block will initially target women 25 to 54, Zarghami
said the eventual sweet spot for advertisers will be based
more on the age of the kids and not the mom.
“Mothers of preschoolers may not have the same sense
of humor as moms that have graduated from those preschool
years, and perhaps have a preteen or teen in their
house,” she said. “What we’ve learned in our research is
moms with preteens and teens can look back and forward
and be amused, while moms of just preschoolers have a
hard time seeing the future.”
Nickelodeon next month will launch a nationwide
standup comedy showcase for comedians who are moms
that network officials said could eventually be used for
programming on the website and on the Nick Jr. programming
block in 2012.
