Nickelodeon Sets Annual Play Day

NEW YORK, September 17:
Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group will go off the air and offline across all
its TV properties and related web platforms on September 27 for its Worldwide
Day of Play.

This marks the first time
that all Nickelodeon television networks and related websites will go dark to
inspire children to participate in the fight against childhood obesity. More
than 250,000 kids in ten different countries are expected to participate in the
fifth annual Play Day, and more than 1,000 local events worldwide are scheduled
to take place. Worldwide Day of Play is part of the Nickelodeon’s overall Let’s
Just Play health and wellness campaign.

On Worldwide Day of Play,
Nickelodeon will kick off the programming day at 6 a.m. with a Saturday morning
cartoon lineup and a series of interstitials with the final My Family's Got
GUTS! highlighting the benefits of
active play. At noon, the three GUTS! families will turn off Nickelodeon to encourage kids across the
country to go out and play. Viewers will be directed via a Worldwide Day of
Play loop to go play until 3 p.m., when the network will be turned on again by
cast members of Nickelodeon’s series iCarly and Olympic gold medalist swimmer Natalie
Coughlin. The health and wellness messaging will continue with spots featuring
the cast of iCarly.

NOGGIN, Nickelodeon’s
24-hour preschool network, will go dark at noon, with characters Moose and Zee encouraging
children to be active. In addition to going dark on September 27, Nicktoons
Network will air spots during the day encouraging kids to play. The N,
Nickelodeon's 24-hour teen-programming network, will air similarly themed spots
throughout the week leading up to Worldwide Day of Play.

“Our annual Worldwide Day
of Play has encouraged millions of kids all over the world to be active,” said
Marva Smalls, the executive VP of public affairs for Nickelodeon Kids and
Family Group. “We are making our biggest commitment yet this year, utilizing
all of our media assets and strong partnerships. This day truly exemplifies how
kids and families can take charge of their health by taking time to be active
together.”

—By Jackie Stewart