Nick at Nite - Programming

Programming

Though Nick at Nite has been known for years as being a "classic TV" network, in recent years programming on Nick at Nite has begun to feature more recent sitcoms, including series that debuted in the 2000s. The first such show on the lineup was George Lopez, added in 2007; also having since joined the schedule are Everybody Hates Chris, The Nanny in 2009, and My Wife and Kids in 2010, That 70s Show, Friends in 2011, Yes Dear, The Brady Bunch, All That, Kenan & Kel, Victorious, Family Matters, Full House was added in 2012.

Nick at Nite airs virtually all of its programming in hour-long (and sometimes two-hour) blocks, known from 2002 to 2007 as "Double Takes"; typically series that air back-to-back air in two blocks, one in primetime and one in late night. Typically, older series on the Nick at Nite schedule are often are moved exclusively to the overnight hours after some time in order to make room for newly-acquired series (though in the past, this was not always the case as entire broadcast runs of a few series such as Perfect Strangers and Charles in Charge have aired in an overnight graveyard slot for a short period of time). For about a year-and-a-half prior to the September 28, 2009 rebrand, Nick at Nite aired marathons of programming from midnight to 5 a.m. ET. Nick at Nite is one of the few basic cable channels in the United States that continues to sign off for scheduled satellite maintenance, occurring on a Wednesday morning from 5:30-6 a.m. ET on a bi-monthly basis, displaying the SMPTE color bars during the sign-off period (Viacom-owned sister channels Nick Jr., Nicktoons, MTV and its spinoff channels, VH1, and VH1 Classic also sign off for a half-hour on a bi-monthly basis at the same time as Nick at Nite for the same reason); it is also one of only a handful of cable channels to have discontinued airing infomercials, Nick at Nite ran infomercials in some overnight timeslots from 1987 to 1998 (it is only one of two Viacom-owned networks to have removed paid programming from its schedule, sister channel BET had discontinued infomercials in 1997, replacing them with religious programming in overnight/early morning timeslots).

On May 16, 2011, Nick at Nite began broadcasting its 11 p.m.-6 a.m. programming in an "off-the-clock" format, previously used by sister network TV Land beginning in 2010 and since adopted by other Viacom networks including MTV, BET and Spike around the same time as Nick at Nite, in which the amount of advertising during commercial breaks is increased (a method that has drawn viewer criticism), allowing the programs to be broadcast in a longer timeslot each half-hour until 6 a.m. ET. when start times return to a half-hourly format; the tradeoff that results from the format is one full half-hour of programming is lost, thus one of the series on the schedule is reduced to a single episode.

On June 25, 2012, Nick at Nite began airing Nickelodeon programs for the first time, airing reruns of All That and Kenan and Kel from 8-9 p.m. weeknights. ET. Two weeks later the two series were replaced with reruns of Victorious but they were currently on Teenick. Currently Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite share the 8-9 p.m. Weeknights. ET. time slots.