Nick Jr. (Australia & New Zealand)
Defunct children's channel in Australia & New Zealand (1998-2025)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nick Jr. was a 24-hour children's pay television channel in Australia and New Zealand targeted at preschoolers. Before the channel's launch, Nick Jr. was a morning programming block on Nickelodeon until 2004, when Foxtel as a local feed of its American counterpart, launched it as a full 24-hour children's channel.[1] The channel is owned by Paramount Networks UK & Australia, and was also available on Optus Television.
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| |
| Country | Australia |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Australia New Zealand |
| Programming | |
| Languages | English Māori |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV 16:9) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Paramount Networks UK & Australia |
| Parent | Nickelodeon Group |
| Sister channels | Network 10 10 HD 10 Drama 10 Comedy MTV Club MTV MTV Classic MTV Hits Nickelodeon (pay TV) Nickelodeon (free-to-air) NickMusic Comedy Central |
| History | |
| Launched | 9 January 1998 (block) 14 March 2004 (channel) |
| Closed | 1 November 2025 (Australia) 2 December 2025 (New Zealand) |
| Replaced by | Sky Kids (New Zealand) |
| Links | |
| Website | www.nickjr.com.au |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Fetch Mobi (AU) | Channel 253 |
| Sky Go (NZ) | skygo.co.nz |
History
Before Nick Jr. officially launched as a 24-hour television channel, it was part of Nickelodeon's morning line-up which included such shows as Blue's Clues, Dora the Explorer and LazyTown, the block itself was also joined by a presenter known as "Face", which presented the Australian-input from 1998 until 2006, the Australian-input was also the last of the Nick Jr. brands internationally to have Face being replaced.
On 21 January 2004, Foxtel announced a brand new digital service along with new channel line-ups which included Nick Jr.[2] On 14 March 2004, Nick Jr. officially launched to be the first 24-hour Australian children's channel to air mostly preschool shows.
For a few months after Nick Jr. became a full channel, it kept a two-hour time slot on Nickelodeon in the mornings from 8:00am until 10:00am, but the time allocated to the block was far shorter than it was before it became a full channel.
The channel introduced some original short-form programming, including Cooking for Kids with Luis[3] and Gardening for Kids with Madi.
The channel was rebranded on 26 March 2010.[4] From 2004 until 2010, the channel used a localised logo with two kangaroos with the tradition of "Nick" (representing the adult) and "Jr." (as the child).
During the time Nickelodeon had a separate channel in New Zealand, it had a Nick Jr. block running from 9:30 am to 2 pm from Monday to Wednesday, 9:30 am to 2:30 pm on Thursday and Friday and 6:30 am to 8 am on weekends. After the closure of the New Zealand feed, the Australian feed of Nick Jr. launched in New Zealand on 24 December 2010.[5]
On 3 December 2013, Nick Jr. became available on Foxtel's streaming service Foxtel Go.[6]
On 1 January 2014, Nick Jr. launched on Australian IPTV provider Fetch TV.[7][8]
The channel also aired as a two-hour block in the afternoons on Sky Television in New Zealand, until this ended in 2013.
On 1 August 2023, Nick Jr. was removed from Foxtel[9] following an announcement that 10 Shake would rebrand as Nickelodeon[10] on the same day, with selected programmes being shifted to that channel and was replaced by Nick Jr. Global. Fetch TV continues to broadcast the channel in Australia, and a variant of the channel is offered as a FAST channel on 10Play.[11]
The channel was removed on Fetch TV on 1 November 2025.[12]
The channel was withdrawn in New Zealand from 2 December 2025, ultimately shutting down the channel completely. The final programme to air was Barbapapa: One Big Happy Family![13]
Logos
Presenters
- Face (14 March 2004 – 2006), (1998 – 2006, block)
- Ollie the Australian Muppet (14 March 2004 – 2013)
See also
- Nick Jr. Channel (American counterpart)
- Nickelodeon (United States)
- Nickelodeon (Australia and New Zealand)