Nickelodeon IDs 1981

In the beginning of 1981, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment Corporation decided to retire the variable length Mime ID it had used between programs, with a new Logo to identify the first network dedicated to children. It used a silver ball and colorful artwork in its graphics presentation. These are examples of the first ones used. One complete ID included the use of a pinball machine to merge the silver ball into that of a ball used to play arcade games with.

[@indayteray8647]

This is better than the 2010 - present Nick bumpers. Because they are creative and a more longer jingle song. I do like the splat era more.

[@ZemeckisTEN]

2010? Yes. Present? No. Nickelodeon’s bumpers in more recent times are actually pretty good too. Not as amazing as the Splat era or maybe even the Silver Ball era, but they’re still really creative creative, cool and funny.

[@GaryW48]

This was before Nickelodeon became a money making outlet for Viacom. In 1980-81 when I worked there, it was a non commercial operation. You can thank Ronald Reagan and Deregulation for that.

[@MadameSomnambule]

I agree with you on the splat era, I was in 9th grade when they did away with the splat and I was so disappointed. I loved the creativity behind the splat logo, it could be shaped like literally anything. Hell, despite being too young to remember them, the splat era bumpers from the 80s and 90s had so much charm to them.

[@sebastianguevara3615]

@@GaryW48 Ronald Reagan Was A Great President And A Great Leader!!!!! He Confronted The Soviet Union!!!!!

[@TheSaneHatter]

This is, indeed, Nickelodeon as I first got to know it: in the summer of 1981, at age 6 Back then, the Network's line-up consisted of, "Pinwheel," "You Can't Do That On Television," and very little else. But the *idea* of it was so uplifting, and these promos are dripping with that early optimism.

[@hunterhellfire848]

1981 still looks like the 70's.

[@hunterhellfire848]

I agree, the very early 90s were similar to the 80s. I think the 80s truly became the "80s" by 1982 because by then, the 70s fads were phased out.

[@natmackey9692]

+Hunter Hellfire yep , I call it decade residue. it's when the feel of a certain decade lasts 2 - 3 years in the one after it.

[@jamesbatchelor4772]

+Hunter Hellfire That is true for the most part, but the "true" 70's was about 1973-1978. I'd actually say the early 80's was more of a mix between 70's and 80's culture, because starting in 1979 disco started to decline rapidly and new wave began to slowly emerge.

[@TheSaneHatter]

You noticed that, too? i thought I was the only one. I like to take the entire period from 1978 to 1982 as one period, instead of going by decades. I call it, "The Track Suit Period."

[@BailesSauce2]

Yeah. A lot of decades are like this... 1971: Still 60s 1991: Still 80s 2001: Still 90s 2011: Still 2000s You get the idea.

[@Lupton2000]

September 30, 1984 was the last day of the silver ball of Nick. October 1 was when they started the orange ball and other shapes for the logo. The silver ball sign-off was still used until June 2, 1985 (Nick went 24 hours the following day).

[@ussarizonayamato9188]

The orange splat started on October 7,not the 1.

[@pog2867roblox]

Shows like wise delivery didint have the splat until 85

[@chantingmammal]

it's actually june 28th 1985 when Nickelodeon stopped using the silver ball sign-off, the 29th is when they went 24 hours.

[@Tornado1994]

@MrAamigo. Nickelodeon was purchased by MTV Networks in 1984. For its first five years 1979-1984 it was an indie cable network. Nick at Night launched on June 2,1985. In March 1994, Nick went full independent and split from MTV, before being purchased by Viacom in July 1995. Who in turn brought VH1 in September 1997, Comedy Central in August 1998 and MTV in January 1999.

[@jwsu2003]

If my faint memory as a 4-5 year old serves me right, there was a similar silver ball closing with different singers (same singers from the opening). I remember the closing came on right after Danger Mouse, which was the very end of the silver ball era(84-85).

[@matty6598]

Can you describe it more?

[@jwsu2003]

I think so. Danger Mouse premiered July 1984 on Nick. I still remember the silver ball ending used after the show at 8pm. I had to be at least five(85) to remember that(born in 80).In fact, I think there was a phase in, phase out period while the red and silver ball were used at the same time(late 84,early 85). The shows on Nick already had red "Nick" objects featured during their bumpers..

[@MadameSomnambule]

I think you're referring to the orange splat there.

[@tomsinder948]

this is actuality pretty advance for it to be made in 1981

[@nathanurie4686]

what kinda animation was this made on? is my question.

[@gilberttorres5775]

HAPPY 35TH ANNIVERSARY NICKELODEON [1979-2014] !

[@DEADCHANNELASOFDECEMBER]

+Danté now 42 in 2019

[@Frankieefootballmundial]

King Bomby will Blow Up you all UTTP imagine Nickelodeon 50th anniversary

[@Lupton2000]

Silver ball theme from 1981 was the best!

[@VBaskin2010]

I Wish The Silver Ball Was Reborn 4 Today's Generation Of Nick Fans.

[@geologyrocks]

I remember the silver ball logo. Back when Nick was good. Back when everything was better.

[@Idoljunky32]

Here's a little history lesson kids. Nickelodeon was originally called Pinwheel! Below is a small snipped of the history of Nickelodeon! Origins: Nickelodeon's history dates back to December 1, 1977, when QUBE, the first two-way major market interactive cable television system was launched in Columbus, Ohio by Warner Cable (owned by Warner Communications, and predecessor to Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment). One of ten new "community" channels offered at no additional charge to QUBE cable subscribers was C-3, which showed Pinwheel exclusively from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm every day.[1] The channel was developed by Dr. Vivian Horner, director of research on the children's television show The Electric Company and creator of early Nick show Pinwheel, and Gus Hauser, the CEO of Warner Cable Corp.[2] Nickelodeon was originally used as a loss leader for its parent company Warner Cable. As Warner Cable saw it, having a commercial free children's channel would be useful in franchising their cable systems across the country, with this advantage putting them over rival companies such as HBO. Relaunch as Nickelodeon and national expansion (1979-1990) Even though Nickelodeon launched on April 1, 1979, its RCA Satcom-1 satellite transponder, purchased from televangelists Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker, went into orbit on March 26, 1979.[2] Despite its prior history on the QUBE system under the Pinwheel name, Nickelodeon designated 1979 as the channel's official launch year. The channel began airing on various Warner Cable systems, beginning in Buffalo, New York and quickly expanded its audience reach.[3][4][5] Originally a commercial-free cable channel, shows airing as part of its broadcast day (which initially ran from 10:00 am-10:00 pm ET on weekdays and 9:00 am-8:00 pm ET on weekends) included Video Comic Book, PopClips and the long-running Pinwheel (which was now formatted as a daily hour-long series that ran in a three- to five-hour block format, and was a precursor to the Nick Jr. block), along with other shows such as America Goes Bananaz; Nickel Flicks and By the Way. In 1980, new shows were added to the lineup, including Dusty's Treehouse; First Row Features; Special Delivery; What Will They Think Of Next?; Livewire and Hocus Focus. The third Nickelodeon logo, used from 1981 to 1985. The network's first logo had a man looking into a Nickelodeon machine that was placed in the N. As Nickelodeon was originally commercial-free, in-between show interstitials consisted of a male mime doing tricks in front of a black background.[6] As the channel signed off for the night, Star Channel (later renamed The Movie Channel in November 1979) would take over the channel space. The second logo had the word "Nickelodeon" in Pinwheel's logo font. The third logo was a silver pinball with the "Nickelodeon" title in multicolor. Nickelodeon's first popular children's television series was You Can't Do That on Television, a Canadian sketch comedy series that made its American debut on Nickelodeon in late 1981. On April 12, 1981, the channel moved its programming hours to 8:00 am-9:00 pm ET; by this point, The Movie Channel became its own separate 24-hour channel and Nickelodeon began turning its channel space over to the Alpha Repertory Television Service (ARTS) during its off-hours; ARTS became A&E in 1984, after ARTS merged with NBC's struggling cable service The Entertainment Channel. In 1983, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment began divesting its assets and spun off Nickelodeon and two other channels, MTV and the now-defunct Radio Television Station (RTS) into the newly formed subsidiary MTV Networks; in order to increase revenue, Nickelodeon began to accept PBS-style corporate underwriting for its programming.[7] The green slime originally featured on You Can't Do That On Television was then adopted by the channel as a primary feature of many of its shows, including Double Dare.[8] In the early years, other shows such as Livewire, Standby: Lights, Camera, Action, The Third Eye, Mr. Wizard's World and Space Stars were part of Nickelodeon's regular schedule. The channel struggled at first, having lost $10 million by 1984, mostly due to a lack of successful programs including failed shows such as Against the Odds and Going Great, and had finished dead last among the cable channels. After firing the previous staff, MTV Networks president Bob Pittman turned to Fred Seibert and Alan Goodman, who created MTV's iconic IDs a few years earlier, to reinvigorate Nickelodeon. Seibert and Goodman's company, Fred/Alan (now Frederator Studios), teamed up with Tom Corey and Scott Nash of the advertising firm Corey McPherson Nash to replace the "Pinball" logo with an "orange splat" logo featuring the "Nickelodeon" name written in the Balloon font, which would be used in hundreds of different variations over the next 25 years. Fred/Alan also enlisted the help of animators, writers, producers and doo-wop group The Jive Five to create new channel IDs. Within six months of the rebranding, Nickelodeon would become the dominant channel in children's programming and remained so for 26 years, even in the midst of increasing competition in recent years from other kids-oriented cable channels such as Disney Channel and Cartoon Network. The same year as the rebrand, Nickelodeon began accepting traditional advertising.[7] It also began promoting itself as "The First Kids' Network", due to its status as the first American television network aimed at children. In January 1985, after A&E dropped its partnership with Nickelodeon and became its own 24-hour channel, Nickelodeon simply went to a test screen after sign-off. That July, Nickelodeon added a new nighttime block called Nick at Nite, and became a 24-hour service. That same year, American Express sold its stake in Warner-Amex to Warner Communications; by 1986, Warner turned MTV Networks into a private company, and sold MTV, RTS, Nickelodeon and the new VH1 network to Viacom for $685 million. In 1988, Nick aired the first annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (previously known as The Big Ballot) and introduced Nick Jr., an educational television block for preschool-age children. Nick Jr. was made to replace Nickelodeon's former preschool block, Pinwheel.

[@NoEntertainment]

+Idoljunky32 This is officially the longest KZbin comment I have ever seen. No joke. Across four accounts, three years. Damn!

[@natmackey9692]

+No. that profile pic though.

[@NoEntertainment]

Nat Mackey Yes.

[@879rechfers]

Idoljunky32 Yeah and Nick jr used to be called Nogin

[@donnabellealgoy1738]

boring

[@doorthechalk1447]

Gives me Care Bears vibes for some reason

[@Tornado1994]

Nickelodeon was first introduced in 1979, but remained an underground independent Cable Network until it was purchased by MTV Networks in 1984 who introduced the TM Orange logo. Nick didn't go public until after MTV hit it big and thus brought the small youthful budding Network.

[@OPENTHEGATESNOW]

I born in 2008 not 1981

[@tvguy1979]

The closing was the last ID in this video.

[@VBaskin2010]

I Agree With U!

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

It originated at CJOH-TV in Ottawa (the CTV station there).

[@jldraw]

Yeah but what would be the point? I understand what you are getting at but with "Pinwheel" being a show that was a montage of live action and cartoon segments, just airing the live action segments probably wouldn't make much sense unless they were using it just as archival material such as clips or whatnot. Still very much miss this era of Nickelodeon. Wish they could find someway to revisit it even if it's in two hour blocks in the early morning hours like they do with 90s stuff now.

[@WonderfulFlashTV-PLUS]

in fact, 1 to 2 July 1985, the bumper sign off the 1981 logo used it while Viacom was responsible for creating Nick at Nite, but on day 3, the logo I miss pinball

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Somehow I got a little curious about the pinball machine used here. It's a real machine that was put out by Wico Corporation in 1977 called "Big Top" (the machine itself was a home unit, not a coin-op), here's a video of it in action! /watch?v=To86EhZSlo8

[@TorchicNidoran1994]

Man. This is the most 80s thing I have ever seen come from Nickelodeon

[@McCraeTheMediaLover]

This was back when Nickelodeon was still a young network in the late 70’s and early 80’s before it became the worlds first children network when the orange logo with balloon letters was introduced in 1985

[@JHollowayNetwork]

@McCraeTheMediaLover1999 Actually Nickelodeon introduced the orange logo on October 1st, 1984.

[@McCraeTheMediaLover]

@NickUKEraMaker Oh, Sorry

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

I recall Danger Mouse being the last show with the sign-off too (I would've been 7 in '85).

[@DreamDancer82]

I wasn't born when these were on yet, and I didn't get Nickelodeon until 1987 (I was five), but I find these to be pretty interesting.

[@GaryW48]

No idea why. Probably a new Marketing or Promotions idea back then.

[@put64dvdandblu-raysmenusan20]

If you grew up in 1981-1984 say I.

[@tvguy1979]

They could air the main/puppet host segments.

[@codym8897]

In 1981, Nickelodeon introduced a new look on-air. Gone are the "Mime" IDs in favor of a silver ball and colorful artwork.🙂

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

The silver ball kinda reflected that chrome/neon look that was very common to see in TV logos of the time.

[@user-a38df1]

I like this logo

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

They could do just that. There's enough material to at least put together a half-hour version of the show or such.

[@georgegarchitorena]

1:13 is from 1982, first seen in a sign off.

[@GaryW48]

No I do not, only some program times. Pinwheel was in a 5 hour block from 8am ET to 1pm ET. The A.R.T.S. service ran in a 3 hour block from 9pm ET to 12 midnight ET, then repeated from 12am ET to 3am ET, then a character generator with music underneath ran from 3am ET to 8am ET. All of this was in early 1981.

[@astonishingpatch]

I remember becoming obsessed with the 1980s and 1990s in 2015 when I was 9, an obsession that lasted 4 or 5 years afterwards. This was one of the first 1980s-related things I discovered. I don’t watch this kind of stuff because I like Nickelodeon (in fact, I don’t like it); I watch this kind of stuff for nostalgic purposes and history purposes

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

I remember all of it!

[@lancebermejo3319]

V A P O R W A V E

[@TheBrtPlusToonsShow]

LOOK AROUND YOU CAN FIND A WORLD OF MAGIC LOOK AROUND YOU CAN MAKE THE WORLD YOUR FRIEND SILVER BALL GLOW IN THE AIR SEE IT GLOW EVERYWHERE NICKELO HERE WE COME NICKELO HERE WE GO NICKELODEON

[@jldraw]

Very true although I'll given them some credit for recognizing their history with their "90s blocks" of television on late night Teen Nick. The problem is they still refuse to revisit any of their eighties broadcast history possibly because the demographic that originally watched those programs are now in their late thirties-forties. Also some eighties programming such as "Pinwheel", Nick has lost broadcast rights to and likely will never be able to rebroadcast those shows.

[@thesuperglassesboiiii]

True it was looking like a silver ball in *1980* in 1984-1985 it was with a uppercase n and 10 letters are uppercase-lowercase, In 2009, it has a new logo.

[@m56214]

Cause most of the 80s series didn't belong to them nor did they make it

[@blueburygeminitheemoprince6175]

The jingle at 1:44 always get me and my nostalgia. Like if you agree

[@kassimparekh1639]

Damn this before my time anything other than orange 🍊 and green slim is anchient

[@GaryW48]

The ORIGINAL MIME! From 1979-1981.

[@GaryW48]

@Spencer Lent sorry, but I was employed as an Engineer and personally dubbed this tape in the late Summer of 1981 off of the master tapes.

[@WonderfulFlashTV-PLUS]

but sorry, I have returned the 1981 logo, while I was trying to create Mondo Media Channel

[@GaryW48]

Could had been, but the way the F/X wipe was in transition to another Nick ID, I think those couple were pre produced, as our control room could not handle wipes. It could had been the first silver ball ID...

[@VBaskin2010]

You Should Create A Petition To Bring Back The Nickelodeon Silver Ball To Combine With The 2009 Logo And Customized With Colors What Ya Think?

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

They certainly don't care for people like me.

[@jwsu2003]

Graphic wise, I always thought the red splat was a downgrade from the silver ball and space-age special affects

[@19thcenturykcory_kwekkwek92]

I Do Like The Silver Ball Era In 1981

[@GaryW48]

Yeah. 32 years ago, Nickelodeon was a simple concept of 'advertising free' programming for children that received awards for quality. Now...a whole different attitude, with having had a theme park attraction, etc.

[@GaryW48]

No. I do know it was from Canadian Television at the CTV Network either out of Ottawa, ot Toronto, Ontario I believe.

[@billyswart6532]

April 1981, just to make a clear time of which part of the year that would be :)

[@fwank9452]

1981 Nick logo looks like rainbow well... that is 35 years of nickelodeon then now... the logo is presented the new nick logo chaged it's look on 2009 to 2014

[@VBaskin2010]

Uh What Do You Think Gary?

[@joegemini3049]

This is rare

[@neilagbada6744]

During the Warner-Amex era

[@daiamondorobotto9812]

1989

[@tvguy1979]

Do you know when Nickelodeon started to show You Can't Do That on Television?

[@tvguy1979]

They should bring back the Mime instead!

[@IAmMrDexB]

1981.

[@djmutt2000]

This could not scream 80s any harder if it tried

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

See what greed does?

[@WammyGiveaway]

Do you have an instrumental version of the song that is played at the end of the tape ("starts" at 1:44)?

[@deisedasilvacazzollicazzol8640]

Ohh ls Scary

[@elveskickass]

Don't know if you've answered this question but do you have full programming days from early Nickelodeon (1979-1989)?

[@GaryW48]

No. The Nickelodeon control room moved from where I worked in Buffalo, down state to Hauppauge, New York by September 1981.

[@m56214]

@@GaryW48 Do you think Nickelodeon would have suceeded in 80s if they started original cartoons live action dramas and sitcoms

[@GaryW48]

@@m56214 not really. When I worked there there were no commercials and won awards from the NEA.

[@m56214]

@@GaryW48 Your trying to say it would be too expensive

[@m56214]

@@GaryW48 Yeah but they had some garbage shows during that era they weren't doing well Alan Goodman literally says in a interview it was shit in 1983 plus does anyone even remember most of the shows that aired then they've been forgotten Original game shows cartoons and Live action comedies and dramas would have led them somewhere why do you think the 90s were so successful it due to originality

[@eluruguayo2019]

NiCKELDOEN

[@JasonDelarosa2000]

They used that song for four years.

[@GaryW48]

Yeah, I was there when it started in early 1981.

[@JasonDelarosa2000]

@@GaryW48 Nick had such gems then as You Can't Do That on Television, Standby Lights Camera Action, Pinwheel, Nick Rocks, Danger Mouse, etc.

[@GaryW48]

@@JasonDelarosa2000 cool! I worked at the satellite transmission center in Buffalo, NY where both Nickelodeon and The Movie Channel transmitted from in 1980-81. Then the company moved operations to Hauppauge by Fall 1981.

[@JasonDelarosa2000]

@@GaryW48 Where was Hauppage?

[@GaryW48]

@@JasonDelarosa2000 look on a map of Long Island. Hauppauge is a town in Suffolk County.

[@soko4710]

what the hell did nick have way back in this time, anyway? the mary tyler moore show?

[@henrykissimba5812]

no you can't do that on television, pinwheel, and livewire danger mouse you're parents should know all about this or Wikipedia

[@soko4710]

+Henry Kissimba both of my parents were born before the '70s, and I don't live in america. no way would they know about this. lol

[@henrykissimba5812]

+Soko oh well

[@henrykissimba5812]

+Soko read my last part Wikipedia

[@jwilliams7554]

Well Nick at Nite actually played MTM back in 1992

[@SproutletFanTheYouTubeUploader]

nickelodeon silver ball idents no sfx

[@randibornstein-sb1mp]

The silver ball was from 1980-1984, before it was replaced by the splat. But when Nickelodeon was acquired by MTV Networks and Paramount in 1985, they would debut Nick at Nite and the brand new top of the hour sign off. Does anybody have footage of the silver ball in its final years? Let me know!

[@randibornstein-sb1mp]

Well, somebody didn’t let me know if there was footage of that, but I found a KZbin video on my own of the silver ball in its very final year. kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2ncqat5p8dlfcksi=UzLnFOOQKl9jD6cO

[@CosmicsStuff]

1980 acctualy for the first one

[@judybontia2842]

I saw a buffulo nickel iam not sure the date

[@deisedasilvacazzollicazzol8640]

Ohhhj

[@niakaproductions2020ukus]

28th December 2020

[@tvguy1979]

This is pretty interesting- most of the other silver ball IDs on KZbin were taken from its final years, around 83/84. Do you know why they replaced the Mime?

[@randibornstein-sb1mp]

The decision to replace the mime was made in October 1980. Although it was actually removed on November 30, and it was because it was becoming too old fashioned at the time.

[@choward5823]

Is there the one where these teenagers are skating

[@Troll._Face]

There are 2 versions of that bumpers

[@backyardigansandlilflexer]

That Ident Will 1980

[@ivanhernandez23ivanhernand15]

Mission

[@thesuperglassesboiiii]

It 1980 and 1981 and 1982 and 1983

[@BLANKNOTING]

Memories 1980’s-6th Century BCE.: Nickel .5c Theatballical Silver Chomaballs. (Pinballs) Strobelight & Cinemas. (“Treasureodeon“!) This Happened Seriously…

[@rafaellasso6329]

Nickelodeon

[@sabrinawilson4345]

Smash Ultimate character idea: 80’s Nick Ball

[@unusualvideoz]

Is In March 11, 1982

[@EvelynMuniz894]

That was 1980

[@tvguy1979]

Proof?

[@judybontia2842]

Looks like 1931

[@Zawmbbeh]

wwwwwwwwOT

[@spilled644]

It would be BLACK AND WHITE

[@GaryW48]

Huh?

[@equestriagirlsfanatic1273]

I like 2009 better than 1981.

[@luciano0hassani]

Está depois as Jornal Nacional 1981

[@EvelynMuniz894]

😘😘😘😘😘😘😆😘😘😘😘😘😘😘

[@Unagenda]

q

[@doorthechalk1447]

1981 was so mediocre

[@put64dvdandblu-raysmenusan20]

Kissasheep the Object thingy screw you the 1980s were awesome movies like The Little Mermaid, don Bluth movies like the Secret of NIHM and others