• by Paul Gough , March 16, 2004

The N, Noggin's tween- and teen-focused companion, will start accepting advertising in late May, Nickelodeon announced Tuesday.

The digital network serves preschoolers from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. as Noggin, and carries no advertising. The N, which begins at 6 p.m. and runs 12 hours daily, hasn't had advertising, but will begin selling six minutes of advertising an hour on May 28. It's predicted to be available in 41 million homes by the fourth quarter.

Cyma Zarghami, president of Nickelodeon Television, said the time was right for the network to take the next step and turn to advertising for its older audiences. The N has the highest concentration of 9- to 17-year-old demographics on television, and a median age of 14.5. It launched in April 2002.

"It's a brand that is just bursting with energy and ready to make its debut," Zarghami said Tuesday afternoon. She said that turning The N into an ad-supported network had been "part of the plans" for a long time, but it was tied to the distribution of the channel.

"Forty million is kind of a magic number," Zarghami said.

Nickelodeon executives said that advertisers had been asking about advertising opportunities on the channel for six months or more; now ad sales execs are making the rounds pitching it. Nickelodeon plans to target movie studios, fashion/apparel, and retail, as well as beverages and wireless.

"We are very close to signing on some big charter sponsors," said Jim Perry, senior vice president of Nickelodeon Ad Sales.

It's not only good for the channel and its advertisers--apparently, it's something viewers want, too.

"We actually know from research that there's quite a bit of the audience that like the ads and would like to see ads on The N, and we do believe that the demographic and psychographic mix of the audience is actually ready for ads on The N," Zarghami said.

Viewers actually want ads?

"Absolutely, particularly in this demographic. That's how they get their information," she said. "Information is power for kids. They get information on the Internet, they get information from their friends, they get information on television. If they need to know what's hot, commercials are one way to find out."

Zarghami said that Noggin won't carry advertising for the "foreseeable future," but added that other options may exist.

"We actually are talking about doing PBS-like sponsorships on Noggin," she said, yet added that there are benefits for parents if the channel stays commercial-free.

Brad Adgate, senior vice president of research at New York-based Horizon Media, said that turning The N into an ad-supported network will give Nickelodeon an even greater share of the revenue pie and help it sell cross-promotional opportunities with other Nick networks and CBS, all owned by Viacom.

"They're doing some pretty healthy numbers," Adgate said of the network.

He acknowledged that there would be a reaction among some parents to The N's becoming ad-supported, but thought the impact would be minimal.