Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally called The Pinwheel Network, is an American children's channel owned by Viacom and operated under its Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group. The channel is primarily aimed at children in grade school and early teens, with their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers ages 2–6. Since 2004, Nickelodeon has been run by Cyma Zarghami. It was ranked as the #1 cable channel as of early 2011, but by the end of that year had suffered a double-digit ratings drop described as “inexplicable” by parent company Viacom. It had been promoted as "The First Kids' Network", as it was the first American television network aimed at children since the Pinwheel days.
Nickelodeon's broadcast day runs on Sundays from 6 a.m.- 8 p.m., Monday-Thursdays from 7 a.m.-8 p.m., Fridays from 7 a.m.-9 p.m., and Saturdays from 6 a.m.-10 p.m. (Eastern and Pacific Time). Since 1985, it shares its channel space with Nick at Nite, a night time channel that airs sitcom reruns during the interim hours. It is treated as a separate channel from Nickelodeon by A.C. Nielsen Co. for ratings purposes. The two services are sometimes referred to under the collective name "Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite", due to their association as two individual channels sharing the same channel space. [wiki]
