Nicktoons will become basic cable’s newest ad-supported network in August, Nickelodeon announced Wednesday.
The Nick spinoff airing animated fare and aimed at kids and tweens features 75% original programming, and it is nearly 34 million homes, the programmer added.
Nicktoons has been a commercial-free network and Web site (www.nick.com/all_nick/nicktoons/site/home/index.jhtml) since its launch in May 2002.
Nicktoons also announced that it will launch three new series.
Skyland is a science-fiction action adventure series set in 2251 that follows a young brother-and-sister team searching for their parents in a new world order.
Kappa Mikey is a parody based on an American actor named Mikey who inadvertently becomes a huge star in Japan after joining the cast of a struggling Japanese anime series.
And ShurikenSchool is a comedy with a martial-arts twist about a boy's adventures at Ninja school.
“It is exciting for us to be bringing another one of Nickelodeon's networks to the ad-sales market," Nickelodeon Digital Television executive vice president and general manager Tom Ascheim said in a prepared statement.
“Under the leadership of general manager Keith Dawkins, Nicktoons will continue to develop its own unique flavor and showcase original animated programming from around the world, building on the current lineup of classic Nicktoon hits,” he added.
