Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group Goes Dark for Fifth Annual Worldwide Day of Play

Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group Goes Dark for Fifth Annual Worldwide Day of Play

10 Countries to Participate in More than 1,000 Worldwide Day of Play Events

Nickelodeon Programming Resumes With My Family's Got GUTS! Finale and More

NEW YORK, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group will go off the air and offline on Saturday, September 27, from 12 to 3 p.m. (ET/PT), across all its TV properties and related web platforms for its signature Worldwide Day of Play. This marks the first time ever that all Nickelodeon television networks and its related websites -- including: Nickelodeon, The N, Noggin, Nicktoons Network, Nick.com, Noggin.com, Nicktoonsnetwork.com, and The-N.com -- will go dark to inspire kids to participate in the fight against childhood obesity. More than 250,000 kids in 10 different countries are expected to participate in Nickelodeon's fifth annual Play Day, and more than 1,000 local events worldwide are scheduled to take place. Nickelodeon will return to the air at 3 p.m. (ET/PT) with healthy messaging, all-new programming, and the finale of the extreme sports competition, My Family's Got GUTS!, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT).

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080916/NYTU090)

"Our annual Worldwide Day of Play has encouraged millions of kids all over the world to be active," said Marva Smalls, Executive Vice President of Public Affairs, 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."

On Worldwide Day of Play, Nickelodeon will kick off the programming day at 6 a.m. (ET/PT) with a Saturday morning cartoon line-up and a series of interstitials with the final My Family's Got GUTS! families highlighting the benefits of active play. At noon (ET/PT), the three GUTS! families will "turn off" Nickelodeon to encourage kids across the country to get up, go out and play. Viewers will be directed via a Worldwide Day of Play loop to go play until 3 p.m. (ET/PT), when the network will be "turned on" again by cast members of Nickelodeon's hit tween series iCarly and Olympic gold medalist swimmer Natalie Coughlin. The health and wellness messaging will continue at the top of the 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. hour (both ET/PT) with spots featuring the cast of iCarly. At 8 p.m. (ET/PT), Nickelodeon will present the exciting hour-long finale of My Families Got GUTS!, where three families will face off in several action sports events for ultimate GUTS supremacy. A complete schedule for Nickelodeon's Worldwide Day of Play follows.

Noggin, Nickelodeon's 24-hour preschool network, will go dark at noon (ET/PT) with favorite preschool characters Moose and Zee encouraging the little ones to get up and active. In addition to going dark on Sept. 27, Nicktoons Network will air spots during the day encouraging kids to get up and be active. The N, Nickelodeon's 24-hour teen programming network, will air similarly themed spots throughout the week leading up to Worldwide Day of Play, encouraging viewers to get active on Sept. 27.

More than 250,000 kids are expected to participate in more than 1,000 Worldwide Day of Play events in all 50 states and 10 countries. Nickelodeon has partnered with several organizations for its Worldwide Day of Play, including its signature partner, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, as well as Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City and the NFL. Boys & Girls Clubs of America will host more than 550 Worldwide Day of Play events in 50 states and 10 countries, reaching more than 60,000 kids. Throughout the week leading up to the Worldwide Day of Play, nine NFL teams will host events themed around healthy activity. Additionally, in New York City, Nick is partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters for their annual Race for the Kids at Riverside Park, with media support by Time Warner Cable. Play Days, presented by local Nickelodeon channels around the globe, have also taken place in more than 40 countries around the world this year.

Worldwide Day of Play is part of the Nickelodeon's overall Let's Just Play health and wellness campaign. Launched in 2002 to give back to kids the right of play, Let's Just Play has evolved to include a TV mini-series -- The Let's Just Play Go Healthy Challenge -- focusing on real kids adopting healthier eating habits; a grants program, which awarded more than $2.5 million to local schools and community organizations; to online websites and games which empower kids and parents with information to help navigate good nutrition. Nickelodeon has committed more than $30 million and 10% of its air to pro-social messaging. Through the Let's Just Play campaign, more than 750,000 kids have pledged to get healthy. Nickelodeon announced last year that it will limit the use of its licensed characters on food packaging to products that meet the "better for you" criteria as established by marketing partners in accordance with governmental dietary guidelines, beginning in 2009.

For more information about Nickelodeon's Worldwide Day of Play and how to participate, visit http://www.worldwidedayofplay.com/.

About Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon, in its 29th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 96 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 14 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B).

Nickelodeon's Worldwide Day of Play, Saturday, Sept. 27, on-air schedule is below (all times ET/PT):

-- 6 a.m. to noon Nickelodeon will air a Saturday cartoon line-up morning line-up with healthy-themed interstitials, including several with the three My Family's Got GUTS! finalist families.

-- 12 noon The three finalist families from My Family's Got GUTS! will "turn off" Nickelodeon. Noggin, Nicktoons Network and The N will all go dark.

-- 12 noon to 3 p.m. Nickelodeon, Nicktoons Network, Noggin, The N and related websites will go dark. Via a continuous loop viewers will be directed to go outside and be active in celebration of Worldwide Day of Play.

-- 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. The cast of iCarly and Gold Medalist swimmer Natalie Coughlin will "turn the network back on." Names of organizations hosting Worldwide Day of Play events will scroll across the screen and spots with the iCarly cast will appear at the top of each hour.

-- 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The cast of iCarly will take over hosting duties for the evening and introduce two back-to-back episodes of the hit series.

-- 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. The hour-long finale of the first tournament of My Families Got GUTS! will air at 8 p.m. Three teams will face off in several action sports events, including: GUTS Grand Prix; Mile High Triple Jump; Free Run City: Wild Side; and Alley Hoop for the coveted last piece of the Aggro Crag.

-- 9 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The first episode of iCarly's season two will premiere. In "iSaw Him First," Freddie invites his techie pal Shane (guest star James Maslow) to help with a science experiment with magnetism for the webcast. Both Carly and Sam feel an attraction to the dreamy teen.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080916/NYTU090
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN14
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Joanna Roses, +1-212-846-7326, or Thamar Romero,
+1-212-846-7491

Web Site: http://www.worldwidedayofplay.com/

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