Nick News

Last updated
Nick News
NN facebook1-150x120.jpg
Intertitle (from 2009–15)
Also known asNick News Special Edition
Genre News magazine
Created by Linda Ellerbee
Presented by
  • Linda Ellerbee
  • Jamie Yuccas
Theme music composer Joseph Curiale (1992–2015)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4 (2020–)
No. of episodes30 (2020–)
Production
Executive producers
  • Linda Ellerbee (1992–2015)
  • Rolfe Tessem (1992–2015)
  • Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson (2021–)
Running time22 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network Nickelodeon
ReleaseApril 18, 1992 (1992-04-18) 
December 15, 2015 (2015-12-15)
ReleaseJune 29, 2020 (2020-06-29) 
present

Nick News (formerly titled Nick News W/5 and later Nick News with Linda Ellerbee) is an American educational television news magazine aimed at children and teenagers. It originally aired on Nickelodeon from 1992 to 2015. It also aired on Nickelodeon's sister network Noggin from 1999 to 2002. Nick News took the form of a news program discussing social, political and economic issues in a format intended to be accessible to both children and adults. In June 2020, the show was revived.

Contents

The show is known for allowing normal American teenagers to speak out on their own personal opinions on a number of past and current worldwide issues and topics, including events such as Black History Month.

Linda Ellerbee

Ellerbee in 1978 Linda Ellerbee.jpg
Ellerbee in 1978

Nick News was hosted by former NBC News personality Linda Ellerbee from 1992 to 2015. Ellerbee was one of five candidates auditioned over the course of two weeks. She was chosen because her competitors were "too loud and obnoxious", claimed one of the show's set designers. According to Ellerbee: "I was honored when I was named the host of Nick News. The show will be about kids and their everyday lives." Ellerbee never missed an episode due to illness. The show is officially known as Nick News with Linda Ellerbee. Throughout the years, Nick News has featured special guests of honor, such as Al Gore, Faith Hill, Rosie O'Donnell, Magic Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Dr. Phil.

History

Nick News was originally known as Nick News W/5 until the show's "who, what, when, where, and why" format[ clarification needed ] was dropped.[ when? ]

During its original run, Nick News with Linda Ellerbee was telecast on Sunday nights at 8:00 p.m. and later 8:30 p.m. on Nickelodeon, and ran in repeats at various timeslots. Nick News was #1 in the ratings on Nickelodeon in 1992–1993, and has never gone below #6 in the ratings, making it one of the most consistently highly rated news shows on TV. From 1993 to 1997, the first-run syndicated version of the show—distributed by Viacom Enterprises (now CBS Media Ventures)—aired on local stations—both independent and network-affiliated—all over the United States of America. The show won a Peabody Award in 1994, [2] and Linda Ellerbee won a Personal Award in 1998 for her work on the show. [3]

The show also previously appeared on early weekday mornings, fully commercial-free as a part of the television cable industry's Cable in the Classroom initiative, which urged teachers from schools across the globe to tape episodes of Nick News and show them to their classes during school hours.

The show was a regular part of the lineup on the Noggin channel, one of Nickelodeon's sister networks, from February 1999 until March 2002. [4]

TeenNick aired two episodes of the show in repeats on both October 25, 2010, and February 15, 2011, and also aired once as part of their nightly block The Splat from November 5–6, 2016.

Nick News is well known for many trademarks during its run on Nickelodeon, such as Ellerbee's signature tagline, "If you want to know, ask!"; the only time the sign off was not used was on the finale episode on December 15, 2015, when Ellerbee signed off with the words "And so it goes"; an homage to her previous signoff as anchor of NBC News Overnight decades earlier.

After nearly 25 years on the air, an hour-long finale titled Hello, I Must Be Going: 25 Years of Nick News with Linda Ellerbee aired on Nickelodeon on December 15, 2015. The episode featured clips from older episodes of the series. [5] The final episode was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program, a category for which the series had been nominated 22 times, with nine wins across the series's 23-year history. [6]

Revival

On June 23, 2020, Nickelodeon announced that it would be reviving Nick News in a series of hour-long specials. The first installment, titled Kids, Race and Unity: A Nick News Special, premiered on June 29 and was hosted by U.S. musician Alicia Keys. Kids, Race and Unity was made in direct response to the wave of protests and unrest following the murder of George Floyd, with its purpose being to "amplify the voices and experiences of Black children across the country". A number of special guests appeared on the program, including Black Lives Matter co-founders Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi; teen activist Marley Dias, founder of the #1000BlackGirlsBook campaign; 12-year-old singer and viral sensation Keedron Bryant; Ibram X. Kendi, author of Antiracist Baby ; Teens4Equality founders Jade Fuller, Nya Collins, Zee Thomas, Kennedy Green, Emma Rose Smith and Mikayla Smith; social media star Tabitha Brown and her family; and family therapist, Dr. George James. [7] [8]

In its current iteration, Nickelodeon has partnered with its corporate sibling CBS News on presentation. On October 6, 2020, 60 Minutes veteran Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson was tapped as executive producer of the Nick News revival, as well as the newly-developed vice president of news programming for Nickelodeon. [9] [10] CBS News correspondent Jamie Yuccas serves as the host, while reporters Vladimir Duthiers, Enrique Acevedo, and Imtiaz Tab also contribute. [11] Nick News also appears as interstitials during regular Nickelodeon programming to cover current events.

Notable episodes

In 1993, a then-12-year-old Meghan Markle was featured after writing letters to get a company to change a national television commercial she viewed as sexist. [12]

In 1993, there was an episode on global warming entitled "Plan it for the Planet". On December 9, 2007, Nick News had shown another global warming special entitled "A Global Warning From the Kids of the World". [13] Both specials looked at different regions of the Earth like Australia, Alaska, the Netherlands, the Philippines, California and Kenya, showing the changes in the climate and the effects of those changes. During the later part of the December 9, 2007, episode, Nobel Prize winner Al Gore talked to children about the issues that global warming is causing for ordinary people.

In 2002, Nick News celebrated its 10th anniversary, adds with a special called "Happy Birthday, Nick News". It featured many flashbacks from the first 10 years of Nick News.

On June 18, 2002, Nickelodeon showed "Nick News Special Edition: My Family Is Different". This had one of the largest audiences in Nick News' history. The show featured regular children talking about different issues that have had a major effect on their personal lives, including hate crimes, child abuse and sexual harassment. During this episode, openly lesbian parent Rosie O'Donnell appeared on Nick News to talk with the children and Ellerbee about being different, with other well-known people as well. The show has also included children from households across the globe that oppose LGBT rights, as well as conservative commentator Jerry Falwell. [14]

On October 12, 2008, an episode called "Nickelodeon's Kids Pick the President" featured children from across the United States asking political, economic and health care questions of Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, as part of a way for American children to choose. Obama was chosen as the winner in that year's Kids Pick the President poll. [15]

Neil Young appeared in an episode with his son who was diagnosed with autism and their love of model trains. [16]

Video releases

VHSRelease DateNotes
A Conversation with Magic1992Barr Media Group
VHSRelease DateNotes
Stranger Danger1994 Sony Wonder
VHSRelease DateNotes
Clearing the Air1995Sony Wonder
VHSRelease DateNotes
When Bad Things Happen1995Sony Wonder
DVDRelease DateNotes
Under the Influence: Kids of AlcoholicsApril 25, 2012 [17] Manufactured on demand on DVD-R

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nickelodeon</span> American childrens pay television channel

Nickelodeon, occasionally shortened to Nick, is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through Paramount Media Networks’ subdivision, Nickelodeon Group. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children, the channel is primarily aimed at children and adolescents aged 2 to 17, along with a broader family audience through its program blocks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids</span> Defunct American television channel

Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids was an American cable television network that was part of MTV Networks' suite of digital cable channels. The channel was available to all digital cable providers and satellite provider Dish Network. With its focus on classic Nickelodeon game shows, Nick GAS was essentially a children's version of Game Show Network, which launched on December 1, 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nickelodeon Studios</span> Former production studio and attraction

Nickelodeon Studios was a production studio and theme park attraction run by the television network Nickelodeon at Universal Studios Florida.

<i>Oobi</i> (TV series) American childrens television show

Oobi is an American children's television series produced by Little Airplane Productions for the Noggin channel. The show's concept is based on a training method used by puppeteers, in which they use their hands and a pair of glass eyes instead of a full puppet. The main character is a bare hand puppet named Oobi. The first season was a series of two-minute shorts. For its second and third seasons, it became a long-form series, with episodes lasting 13 minutes each. The show originally aired from 2000 to February 11, 2005, with reruns continuing until March 18, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Ellerbee</span> American journalist (born 1944)

Linda Ellerbee is an American journalist, anchor, producer, reporter, author, speaker and commentator, noted as longtime Washington correspondent for NBC News and host of NBC News Overnight. She is widely known as the twenty-five year host of Nick News, Nickelodeon's highly rated and recognized news program for older school-aged children and teens that addressed substantive issues, including wars, disease and disasters, without condescension.

<i>Play with Me Sesame</i> 2002 American childrens television series

Play with Me Sesame is an American children's television series, created by Sesame Workshop and Nickelodeon for their former joint venture Noggin. It is a spin-off of Sesame Street hosted by Ernie, Bert, Prairie Dawn, and Grover. The series' backgrounds and animated elements were made by Nickelodeon Digital in New York City. Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop developed the show to expand on Sesame Street by directly encouraging young viewers to interact with the characters. To do this, they combined classic Sesame Street sketches with new segments, where the hosts invite preschoolers to join them in games.

<i>Little Bill</i> American childrens show

Little Bill is an American animated educational television series created by Bill Cosby. It is based on the Little Bill book series, written by Cosby with illustrations by Varnette P. Honeywood. Cosby also composed some of the theme music, appeared in live-action in the show's intro sequence, and voiced the recurring character of Captain Brainstorm. It was Cosby's second animated series, after Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.

<i>Phred on Your Head Show</i> American childrens television series

Phred on Your Head Show is an American children's television series produced for Noggin, a cable channel co-founded by MTV Networks and Sesame Workshop. The first episode aired on June 6, 1999. Noggin aired encore showings of the first episode throughout June and started airing the show regularly on July 26, 1999. The show stars a small green character named Phred, voiced by Doug Preis, who has his own variety show. In each episode, Phred hops across different people's heads to find a host, who then chooses a selection of Noggin programs to play.

<i>Cooking for Kids with Luis</i> Australian TV series or program

Cooking for Kids with Luis is an Australian short-form cooking show for preschoolers, co-produced by Total Perception Productions and Nickelodeon Australia. It premiered on Nick Jr. Australia in 2004. The show is hosted by 6-year-old Luis Tanner, a boy from Australia who became the Guinness World Record holder for the youngest TV host. Every short follows Luis as he prepares, cooks and shares some of his favourite dishes. He also shows where food comes from by gathering the ingredients.

<i>The Upside Down Show</i> Childrens television series

The Upside Down Show is a children's television series produced by Blink Films and Sesame Workshop. It was made for Noggin, a channel co-founded by Sesame Workshop. The series is set in a strange apartment building where the doors lead to a variety of unusual rooms. It is presented by brothers David and Shane, who live in the apartment building with their sidekick Puppet, their neighbor Mrs. Foil, and a group of fuzzy creatures called the Schmuzzies. In each episode, David gives the viewers an imaginary remote control that affects the characters and their surroundings.

<i>A Walk in Your Shoes</i> American TV series or program

A Walk in Your Shoes is an American educational television series that aired on the Noggin channel. The show documents the experiences of two different people who switch places for a day and learn how the other person lives. The show started out as a series of three shorts, which premiered on October 25, 1999, as part of Noggin's variety series Phred on Your Head Show. The first half-hour episode premiered on April 30, 2000, and the last episode aired on October 18, 2005.

Kids Pick the President is a series of specials produced by the Nickelodeon TV network, organized around a mock election to determine children's choice for the President of the United States. Since 1988, Kids Pick the President has accurately predicted the winner of each election with the exceptions of the 2004 and 2016 presidential elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Nickelodeon</span> Historical timeline

Nickelodeon is an American basic cable and satellite television network that is part of the Nickelodeon Group, a unit of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, which focuses on programs for children and teenagers.

The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Series was an Emmy award given to television programming aimed towards children. Children's television had been recognized at the Emmys since the inaugural year. In 1995, a separate award for pre-school children's television was created, and the two categories had been recognized since then. Starting in 2018, a distinction between children's series and educational series was created, resulting in two separate categories. In November 2021, it was announced that all Daytime Emmy categories honoring children's programming would be retired in favor of a separate Children's & Family Emmy Awards ceremony that was held starting in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Jr. Channel</span> American television channel

The Nick Jr. Channel, sometimes shortened to Nick Jr., is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. programming block. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. The channel launched on September 28, 2009, replacing Noggin. The channel primarily targets preschoolers and toddlers ages 2 to 6 years old. Its lineup features a mix of originally-produced programming, along with series from the Nickelodeon weekday block; to avoid confusion between the two different entities, the separate channel has been identified on-air as the "Nick Jr. Channel" since March 2018 to the present day for promos and until September 2023 for the on-screen graphic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TeenNick</span> U.S. teen-focused cable and satellite TV channel

TeenNick is an American pay-TV channel that is operated by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Aimed primarily at teens and tweens, its programming includes a variety of live-action series inherited from sister channel Nickelodeon. The channel launched on September 28, 2009, as the merger between two defunct programming blocks which also targeted a teenage audience: TEENick on Nickelodeon and The N on Noggin. Before its introduction as a channel, TeenNick's space used to be held by Nick GAS and a short-lived, 24-hour version of The N.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noggin (brand)</span> Entertainment brand

Noggin is an American edutainment brand launched on February 2, 1999. It was co-founded by MTV Networks and Sesame Workshop. It started out as a cable television channel and a website, both centered around the concepts of imagination, creativity, and education. Since 2015, Noggin has been a streaming service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The N</span> Programming block on the Noggin television channel

The N was a prime time and late-night programming block on the Noggin television channel, aimed at preteens and teenagers. It was launched on April 1, 2002, by MTV Networks and Sesame Workshop.

References

  1. Harper Collins Publishing. "Linda Ellerbee". Archived from the original on March 31, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
  2. "Nick News". The Peabody Awards. Archived from the original on 2023-03-11. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  3. "Personal Award: Linda Ellerbee, Host of "Nick News"". The Peabody Awards. Archived from the original on 2023-03-11. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  4. Maime, Jeremy (February 2, 1999). "Muppet Central News - New CTW network Noggin premieres". Muppet Central News. Archived from the original on 2018-05-23. Retrieved 2018-05-22.
  5. Pena, Jessica (December 1, 2015). "Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: Host Retiring; Last Episode Airs December 15th". TV Series Finale. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  6. "Nick News With Linda Ellerbee". Television Academy. Archived from the original on 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  7. Joe Otterson (June 23, 2020). "Nickelodeon to Revive Nick News for Special on Race Hosted by Alicia Keys". Variety . Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  8. Maglio, Tony (2020-06-23). "Nickelodeon Brings Back 'Nick News' With 'Kids, Race and Unity' Special". TheWrap. Archived from the original on 2020-11-07. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  9. "Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson Joins Nickelodeon as Vice President of News Programming and Executive Producer of Net's Rebooted Nick News". Paramount. Oct 6, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-10-09. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  10. Porter, Rick (October 6, 2020). "'60 Minutes' Veteran to Head News at Nickelodeon". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 30, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  11. "Nick News - Season 1 - TV Series". Nickelodeon. Archived from the original on 2022-04-06. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
  12. Oppenheim, Maya (2018-05-21). "11-year-old Meghan Markle fights sexism on Nickelodeon in resurfaced video". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2023-03-11. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  13. Lowry, Brian (2007-12-05). "A Global Warning From the Kids of the World". Variety. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  14. Lowry, Brian (June 11, 2002). "Nickelodeon Under Fire for a Special on Gay Parents". Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on July 2, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  15. "Kids Pick the President". Nickelodeon. Archived from the original on 2013-10-05. Retrieved 2013-10-02.
  16. "Mark Lyons & Linda Ellerbee - Nick News - 1994 Peabody Award Acceptance Speech - Peabody Awards on YouTube" . Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  17. "Nick News with Linda Ellerbee – Under the Influence: Kids of Alcoholics". Amazon. 2012-04-25. Archived from the original on 2015-12-10. Retrieved 2013-08-01.