Nickelodeon (global)

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 teens, with their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers ages 2–5. Since 2004, Nickelodeon has been run by Cyma Zarghami. It had 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. Nickelodeon's broadcast day runs on Sundays-Thursdays from 6 a.m.-8 p.m. , Fridays from 6 a.m.-9 p.m. , and Saturdays from 6 a.m.-10 p.m.. 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.