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106-516: Nickelodeon Networks was founded in 2002 after MTV Networks (now Paramount Media Networks ) merged the business operations of Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite and Nicktoons into one division. On January 4, 2006, Herb Scannell resigned from Nickelodeon. Cyma Zarghami was appointed in his place as president of the newly formed Kids & Family Group, which included Nickelodeon , Nick at Nite , Nick Jr. , TeenNick , Nicktoons , TV Land , CMT , and CMT Pure Country . In 2007, Nickelodeon entered into

212-537: A revival series . Production on the fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons was divided between Rainbow and Nickelodeon Animation Studio . To attract an American audience, Viacom assembled a voice cast of Nickelodeon actors (including Elizabeth Gillies and Ariana Grande ), invested US$ 100 million in advertising for the series, and inducted Winx Club into Nickelodeon's franchise of Nicktoons . Beginning in 2010, episodes of Winx Club were jointly written with Nickelodeon's American team. Nickelodeon's writers aimed to make

318-476: A serial format with an ongoing storyline. Iginio Straffi initially outlined the show's plot to last three seasons. He chose to continue the story for a fourth season in 2009. Around this time, Winx Club ' s popularity attracted the attention of the American media company Viacom , owner of Nickelodeon. Viacom purchased 30% of the show's animation studio, Rainbow   SpA, and Nickelodeon began producing

424-502: A 60% increase from the fourth quarter of 2011. On Nickelodeon UK , Winx Club increased the network's ratings by 58% on its launch weekend in September 2011, ranking as the second-most-popular program on the channel and the most popular show with females aged 7–15. As of 2021, Winx Club is still broadcast daily on Nickelodeon UK's main network. In a New York Times article, Bocconi University professor Paola Dubini stated that

530-557: A brighter, more modern appearance. Production of the restyled series began by 2002, and Rainbow estimated the episodes would be delivered to distributors by late 2003. The new name of the series ("Winx") was derived from the English word " wings ". Straffi's aim was to appeal to both genders, including action sequences designed for male viewers and fashion elements for female viewers. At the October 2003 MIPCOM event, Rainbow screened

636-420: A cable network dedicated to arts and films, on December 1, 1980. Full control of the channel, however, was sold to Rainbow Media in 1984; NBC would acquire Bravo in 2003, and the channel is now currently owned by Comcast 's NBCUniversal . On August 1, 1981, MTV debuted. In 1983, concerned by the strategic and financial failure of its pay-TV venture The Movie Channel (started to reap the benefits Time Inc.

742-459: A cartoony voice for her character. Nickelodeon advised her to use her real voice instead, saying, "No, we want voices of real girls this time around." For the 2011 cast, Viacom hired popular actors whose names were advertised on-air to attract American viewers; these stars included Ariana Grande as Diaspro, Elizabeth Gillies as Daphne, Keke Palmer as Aisha, Matt Shively as Sky, and Daniella Monet as Mitzi. These actors provided voices for

848-482: A co-owner of Rainbow in 2011, Rainbow's group of 30 writers began collaborating with teams in both Italy and the United States. The international coordination, which has continued through 2019, intends to make scenarios depicted in the program multicultural and accessible to viewers from different countries. Episodes are written with two stories in mind: a longer narrative arc that lasts for tens of episodes and

954-595: A five-point restructuring plan, in which the company would pour most of its resources behind six "flagship brands". These were MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. Channel , BET , and Paramount Pictures. In February 2017, cable channels CMT and TV Land were moved from the Kids and Family Group to the Global Entertainment Group under Kevin Kay, joining up with Spike TV. During the same month, it

1060-402: A four-year development deal with Sony Music to produce music-themed TV shows for the network, to help fund and launch tie-in albums, and to produce original soundtrack songs that could be released as singles. The Naked Brothers Band , a rock- mockumentary series that tells of a pre-teenage rock band led by two real-life brothers who write and perform the songs, broadcast from 2007 to 2009; it

1166-442: A magical dimension". In expanding the concept, Iginio Straffi drew his inspiration from Japanese manga and the comics of Sergio Bonelli . Straffi's pilot, which was titled "Magic Bloom", featured the original five Winx members in attires like those of traditional European fairies. It was produced during a twelve-month development period that included animation tests, character studies, and market surveys. The animation attracted

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1272-543: A multi-year content production agreement with Netflix to produce several original films and series based on Nickelodeon properties. After Viacom re-merged with CBS Corporation to form ViacomCBS at the end of 2019, it was announced that Nickelodeon content would be available for streaming on the CBS All Access streaming service (later relaunched as Paramount+ on March 4, 2021), with SpongeBob SquarePants spinoff Kamp Koral and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on

1378-447: A necessity. He elaborated that "the fans of the previous Winx Club say on social media that the new seasons are childish, but they don't know that we had to do that." Straffi stepped away from the series at this time and shifted his focus to live-action projects aimed at older audiences: Nickelodeon's Club 57 and Fate: The Winx Saga . Straffi explained that "the things we had to tone down [in season eight] have been emphasized in

1484-414: A new public corporation called MTV Networks . A year later, Warner would acquire the 50% stake from American Express. On August 27, 1985, Warner sold 31% of MTV Networks to Viacom, with Warner also selling 19% of its Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc. joint to Viacom as well. In November 1985, Viacom announced that it had plans to buy the remaining 69% of MTV Networks from Warner for $ 326 million, and

1590-409: A similar partnership with Columbia Records ; however, Columbia was only involved with the show's music, and Sony Music became involved with the series' production midway through its first season. It became Nickelodeon's second-most successful live-action show of all time after iCarly ; Big Time Rush garnered 6.8 million viewers for its official debut on January 18, 2010, setting a new record as

1696-714: A special version of an early 2021 Wild Card playoff game under the NFL on Nickelodeon banner. Nickelodeon would also figure prominently in CBS' own coverage of Super Bowl LV later that year, with special programming and content pertaining to the game itself. The NFL would extend its partnership with Nickelodeon by allowing them to air another Wild Card game in January 2022, and a weekly highlights show hosted by CBS' Nate Burleson with Tyler Perry's Young Dylan star Dylan Gilmer. Nickelodeon will air its first regular-season game in 2022, with

1802-445: A subplot that concludes at the end of the 22-minute runtime. This episode structure was modelled on those of teen dramas and American comics. Themes written into the series include romance, the acquisition of maturity upon reaching adulthood, and (in the fifth season) nature conservation. After the script and character designs have been approved, the screenplay is passed onto a group of storyboard artists. For each 22-minute episode,

1908-433: A sweeping change to their network by cancelling and/or ending their teen shows ( How to Rock , iCarly , Victorious , Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures , Supah Ninjas , Life With Boys and Big Time Rush ) in favor of newer shows targeted to a younger block. On July 17, 2014, the network televised the inaugural Kids' Choice Sports , a spin-off of the Kids' Choice Awards that honors athletes and teams from

2014-531: A third of Rainbow SpA , the Italian studio that introduced Winx Club . The purchase was valued at 62 million euros (US$ 83 million) and led to new shows being co-developed by Rainbow and Nickelodeon, including My American Friend and Club 57 . Also in 2011, Nickelodeon debuted House of Anubis , a series based on the Nickelodeon Netherlands series Het Huis Anubis , which became

2120-423: Is 4-to-8, your story cannot have the same level of complexity as the beginning seasons of Winx , where we had a lot of layers ... The fans of the previous Winx Club say on social media that the new seasons are childish, but they don't know that we had to do that. — Iginio Straffi in 2019 The eighth season of the series was not produced immediately after the seventh. It followed a multiple-year hiatus and

2226-685: Is an American entertainment company that oversees Paramount's children's entertainment assets, including its namesake cable network . Through its Networks division, Paramount also owns internet properties, such as MTV News and AwesomenessTV . Paramount ran a virtual world system, Virtual MTV, in the late 2000s. The company has owned various other internet properties including virtual pets website Neopets ; Flash game websites AddictingGames.com and Shockwave.com ; online content production company Atom Entertainment ; along with RateMyProfessors.com , GameTrailers , and iFilm , all of which have been shut down or sold off during 2000s and 2010s. During

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2332-470: Is currently only available on the Spanish and French feeds. On 2 September 2010, Nickelodeon announced through a press release that they would be producing brand-new seasons with Rainbow. Nickelodeon debuted four one-hour specials (also co-produced with Rainbow) summarizing the first two seasons, the first of which premiered on their flagship American channel on 27 June 2011. With the exception of Italy,

2438-515: Is the city of Magix—which is located on the planet of the same name—where the three main magic schools are situated. The other planets of the Magic Dimension include Bloom's home planet Domino, Stella's home planet Solaria, Flora's home planet Lynphea, Tecna's home planet Zenith, Musa's home planet Melody, Aisha's home planet Andros, and Roxy's home planet Tir Na Nog. Some episodes take place on Earth, where Bloom spent her childhood. During

2544-595: The ABS-CBN block "Nickelodeon on ABS-CBN" in the Philippines on July 26, 2010. On November 2, 2009, a Canadian version of Nickelodeon was launched, in partnership between Viacom and Corus Entertainment (owners of YTV , which had aired and continued to air Nickelodeon's series); as a result, versions of Nickelodeon now exist in most of North America. In October 2009 and September 2010, respectively, Viacom brought Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Winx Club into

2650-516: The Denver Broncos taking on the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams as part of the NFL's Christmas Day slate. Paramount Media Networks Paramount Media Networks is an American mass media division of Paramount Global that oversees the operations of its television channels and online brands. The division was originally founded as MTV Networks in 1984, named after

2756-651: The MTV cable network. It would be known under this name until 2011; when it would be thereafter known as Viacom Media Networks until 2019; and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks until 2022. The division's television assets are managed through three units: the MTV Entertainment Group , Showtime Networks , and the Nickelodeon Group . Paramount's international assets are overseen by Paramount International Networks . Warner Cable Communications

2862-576: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) fined Nickelodeon's Pakistani channel after it aired an episode where the Winx are shown in swimsuits. Winx Club has been popular at fan conventions . For example, in 2012 and 2013, the series had a large presence at Nickelodeon's San Diego Comic-Con booth, where new collectibles were raffled off to fans. Nickelodeon made two exclusive dolls for

2968-554: The 1990s, comic artist Iginio Straffi noticed that most action cartoons were focused on male heroes; at that time, he felt that the "cartoon world was devoid of female characters". Straffi hoped to introduce an alternative show with a female lead aged 16 to 18, as he wanted to "explore the psychological side" of the transition to adulthood. He decided to develop a pilot centred on the conflict between two rival colleges; one for fairies and another for witches. Straffi compared his original premise to "a sort of ' Oxford–Cambridge rivalry ' in

3074-674: The 2012 event (a silver Bloom and a gold Bloom) and two more for 2013 (Daphne in her nymph form and Bloom in her Harmonix form). In 2015, a four-day Winx Club fan gathering was held in Jesolo , where Nickelodeon installed a "Fan Wall" to display messages from worldwide fans. In October 2018, an exhibition for the series' fifteenth anniversary was held at Europe's largest comics festival, the Lucca Comics & Games convention in Tuscany. Federico Vercellino of Il Sole 24 Ore described

3180-534: The Italian voices. Starting with season 5, the animation was synchronized to match the English scripts. The 2011 specials introduced a new cast of Hollywood voice actors. Iginio Straffi himself helped to choose the voices of the main characters, and the actors recorded their lines at the Atlas Oceanic studio in Burbank, California. Molly Quinn voiced the lead role of Bloom, and at first, she tried out

3286-520: The Lost Kingdom ) to resolve any plot points remaining from the third-season finale. In 2008, Straffi decided to extend the series, citing its increasing popularity. In September 2010, Rainbow S.p.A. announced they had entered into a worldwide broadcast and production deal with Nickelodeon that would see the broadcaster air the series in several territories, alongside co-producing and developing seasons five and six with them, effectively reviving

Nickelodeon Group - Misplaced Pages Continue

3392-492: The Nickelodeon family by purchasing both franchises. Nickelodeon Animation Studio produced a new CGI-animated Turtles series and new seasons of Winx Club with CGI sequences. Both productions comprised Nickelodeon's strategy to reboot two established brands for new viewers: TMNT was intended to reach an audience of boys aged 6 to 11, and Winx was aimed at the same age group of girls. In February 2011, Viacom bought out

3498-625: The Run debuting on the service that same day. Throughout 2021, Paramount+ would announce and debut new programming based on Nickelodeon IP, including a live-action sequel series to The Fairly OddParents that premiered in March 2022, a CGI-animated reboot of Rugrats , and an iCarly sequel series . CBS Sports began partnering with Nickelodeon on its coverage of the National Football League , with Nickelodeon simulcasting

3604-706: The Specialists do not have magical powers and instead, train how to fight using laser weapons . The Winx and Specialists' most common adversaries are a trio of witches named the Trix: Icy , Darcy , and Stormy , all former students of the Cloud Tower school. Winx Club is set in a vast universe with several dimensions. Most episodes take place in the Magic Dimension, which is closed off to ordinary people and inhabited by creatures from European mythology like fairies, witches, and monsters. The capital of this world

3710-456: The acquisition was completed on May 20, 1986. In 1988, the company partnered with fellow Viacom subsidiary Viacom Enterprises to handle advertising sales of Superboy , a syndicated television series. The division was later evolved into One World Entertainment in the early 1990s, who partnered to launch a VH1 syndicated series. In 2003, MTV Networks assumed full ownership of Comedy Central from AOL Time Warner. On December 31, 2005,

3816-471: The artists prepare 450 pages of storyboards which are used to assemble an animatic . At this stage, dialogue and music are added to determine the length of each scene. In the original series (seasons 1–4), the characters' mouths were animated to match the Italian voice actors' lines; in the revived series, the mouth movements were matched to the English scripts. Episodes are worked on concurrently because each requires around two years of work to complete. At

3922-600: The beginning of the first season, the production team worked from Rainbow's original headquarters in Recanati. In 2006, Straffi opened a second studio in Rome for computer-animated projects. During the fifth and sixth seasons, 3D CGI sequences were incorporated into the series for the first time, animated at the studio in Rome. According to the Rainbow CGI animators, the animation of the characters' hair in underwater scenes

4028-468: The brand's identity. The logo was intended to create a unified look that can better be conveyed across all of MTV Networks' children's channels. The new logo debuted on September 28, 2009, across Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, and Nicktoons, along with the newly launched TeenNick (named after the TEENick block) and Nick Jr. Channel (named after the concurrently-running Nick Jr. block). The wordmark logo bug

4134-414: The channel was rebranded as MTV Live . Channel was originally a division of Warner Communications and the original owner of MTV, and launched on January 1, 1985, in the former space of Turner's short-lived Cable Music Channel . Channel slot was originally VH1 Uno , until MTV Networks on Campus replaced VH1 Uno with a televised simulcast of MTVU . The college campus feed of MTVU no longer exists but

4240-757: The company: "It's not our usual practice to co-produce cartoons; we make them by ourselves. But we strongly believe in Winx ." Winx Club was officially inducted into Nickelodeon's franchise of Nicktoons , a brand that encompasses original animated productions created for the network. On each episode of the revived series, Nickelodeon approved scripts and all phases of animation. Nickelodeon brought on some of its long-time staff members, such as creative director Janice Burgess , and writers Sascha Paladino , Adam Peltzman , and Carin Greenberg . On 7 April 2014, Rainbow and Nickelodeon announced their continuing partnership on

4346-658: The earlier seasons. The seventh season was jointly announced by Nickelodeon and Rainbow in April 2014 as part of their continuing partnership. The seventh season made its world premiere on Nickelodeon Greece on 24 May 2015, and the English version debuted on Nickelodeon Asia on 22 June 2015. It later premiered on Rai Gulp in Italy (21 September 2015) and the Nick Jr. Channel in the United States (10 January 2016). In October 2003, 4Kids Entertainment acquired US broadcast rights to

Nickelodeon Group - Misplaced Pages Continue

4452-416: The end of the year. The original Channel C-3, by then known as Pinwheel, became Nickelodeon in April 1979. As a result of these actions, Warner Cable Communications would then be rebranded as Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment , becoming a joint venture between Warner Cable and American Express . In 1980, Warner-Amex formed a joint venture with Cablevision 's Rainbow Media division to launch Bravo ,

4558-419: The entire Rainbow studio, but wanted to keep Iginio Straffi at the helm, leaving Straffi with 70%. The revived series began with four special episodes that summarize the first two seasons of the original show, followed by the fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons. As the production team was divided between two countries, Nickelodeon released a statement commenting on how Winx Club was an unusual production for

4664-477: The episodes. This was due to the broadcaster focusing on another co-production with Rainbow – Club 57 . Season eight was also the first-ever season without the involvement of Rai Fiction . Iginio Straffi made the decision to shift the show's intended audience after years of gradually aiming toward a younger demographic. In a 2019 interview, Straffi explained that decreasing viewership from older viewers and an increased audience of young children made this change

4770-473: The fairy of music; Aisha , the fairy of waves; and Roxy , the fairy of animals. The main male characters are called the Specialists, a group of students at the Red Fountain school who are also the Winx fairies' boyfriends. They include Bloom's boyfriend Sky ; Stella's boyfriend Brandon ; Flora's boyfriend Helia ; Tecna's boyfriend Timmy ; and Musa's boyfriend Riven . Unlike their female counterparts,

4876-409: The fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons launched on Nickelodeon channels domestically and internationally. During the sixth season in 2014, episode premieres were moved from Rai 2 to Rai Gulp in Italy, and from Nickelodeon to the Nick Jr. Channel in the United States. The change to younger-skewing networks followed Rainbow's lowering of Winx Club ' s target demographic to a younger audience than

4982-473: The first half of that year, only for its viewership to experience a sharp double-digit decline by the end of 2011, described as "inexplicable" by Viacom management. The channel would not experience a calendar week ratings increase until November 2012 (with viewership slowly rebounding after that point); however its 17-year streak as the highest-rated cable network in total day viewership was broken by Disney Channel during that year. Around late 2012, Nickelodeon made

5088-471: The first original scripted series to be broadcast in a weekdaily strip (similar to the soap opera format). Produced in the United Kingdom, it was also the first original series by the flagship U.S. channel to be produced entirely outside of North America. 2011 saw Nickelodeon's longtime ratings dominance among all children's cable channels begin to topple: it was the highest-rated cable channel during

5194-403: The first quarter of 2008, iFilm was merged into Spike with its website re–branded and re–purposed as Spike.com . In 2014, Viacom purchased a stake in multi-channel network Defy Media , while offloading GameTrailers , Addicting Games, and Shockwave to Defy. Winx Club Winx Club is an animated television series co-produced by Rainbow SpA and later Nickelodeon . It

5300-475: The first season of Winx Club for broadcast on their FoxBox (later 4Kids TV) strand on Fox . 4Kids dubbed the first three seasons, censoring and editing the original content in an attempt at localization. Iginio Straffi criticized these adjustments in a 2008 interview, saying, "The Winx fairies cannot even talk about boys there. I think this removes something essential." The series last aired on The CW (as part of The CW4Kids ) before 4Kids' broadcast agreement

5406-541: The first two Winx films and seasons three through six. In 2014, Viacom relocated the series' English cast to DuArt in New York City; this was done as a cost-cutting and time-saving measure since Rainbow was undergoing a significant financial loss at the time. Despite the change in voice actors, the series' animation continued to be matched to Nickelodeon and Rainbow's English scripts for the seventh season. Original songs have been recorded in about 40 languages for

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5512-534: The free streaming service Pluto TV , Viacom would launch several channels on the service branded after its Media Networks and company–owned IP . In August 2019, Viacom announced that it would merge with CBS Corporation , reuniting the two entities under the ViacomCBS name. The merger closed on December 4, 2019. Announced on November 11, 2019, as part of the re–merger, the Media Networks division

5618-470: The highest-rated live action series premiere in the channel's history. On February 1, 2009, Nickelodeon discontinued the TEENick block, as the name would soon be used for its own channel. On July 29, 2009, Nickelodeon unveiled a new logo that would be implemented toward the end of the year, designed by New York City–based creative director/designer Eric Zim. It was part of a year dedicated to strengthening

5724-408: The interest of Rai Fiction , which paid for 25% of the production cost in exchange for Italian broadcast rights and a share of the series' revenue over 15 years. After holding test screenings of the pilot, however, Straffi was unhappy with the audience's unenthusiastic reaction to the characters' outdated clothing style and stated that the pilot did not satisfy him. In a 2016 interview, Straffi said

5830-582: The journal of Volgograd State University , Russian sociologists Georgiy Antonov and Elena Laktyukhina judged that female characters in the series are depicted as dominant, while males are shown to be passive. As examples of women adopting traditionally male roles, they listed the female fairies fighting for their boyfriends, saving them from enemies, and inviting them on dates, while at the same time having difficulty performing household duties like cooking and cleaning. Writing for Kabardino-Balcarian State University , Zalina Dokhova and Tatiana Cheprakova stated that

5936-488: The live action–the relationships, the fights, the love stories." He added that he hoped that Fate will satisfy the "20-year-olds who still like to watch Winx ." On November 6, 2022, creator Iginio Straffi announced that "a brand new CG Winx animated series reboot is going into production. Yes, a reboot." In January 2023, Paramount (Viacom) sold its stake in Rainbow back to Straffi, allowing him full creative control of

6042-475: The network launched in 2007. By 2014, the show had been aired in over 150 countries. In 2019, after the Viacom-CBS merger announcement, Informa 's Television Business International listed the show among the most important Viacom properties internationally. In June 2022, Paramount (the rebranded name of ViacomCBS) launched a 24-hour Winx Club channel on their Pluto TV on-demand service. The channel

6148-471: The network. In October 2018, All That co-creator Brian Robbins succeeded her as president of Nickelodeon. On January 22, 2019, Viacom acquired the streaming service Pluto TV for $ 340 million, which has since launched various Nickelodeon-branded channels. On August 6 the same year, Viacom acquired the rights to the Garfield franchise, with plans for a new animated series. Later that year, Viacom signed

6254-488: The newspaper Corriere della Sera , psychotherapist Gianna Schelotto highlighted positive aspects of the show, like friendship, guiding female viewers "away from supermodels to which the commercial world drags them". Il   Sole 24 Ore also wrote positively about the show's feminist themes, commending how the characters "expose narcissistic masculinity". The characters' outfits caused some controversy in June 2017, when

6360-625: The popularity of Winx -inspired fashion to fans' desire to emulate the characters, stating that "Winx fanatics dress, move and breathe like their heroines". The Regional Council of Marche , Italy, chose the Winx Club fairies to represent Marche and Italy at the Expo 2010 world's fair in Shanghai. A four-minute video using stereoscopic technology showing the Winx in Marche's tourist destinations

6466-459: The previous two seasons were deemed too costly to continue using for the seventh season. As with the previous two seasons, the copyright to the seventh season is co-owned by Rainbow and Viacom. The first episode aired on 22 June 2015, on Nickelodeon in Asia, followed by its American broadcast on the Nick Jr. Channel on 10 January 2016. The president of Nickelodeon International, Pierluigi Gazzolo,

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6572-556: The previous year in sports. Since 2016, the network has begun to produce TV movies based on its older properties, including those of Legends of the Hidden Temple , Hey Arnold! , Rocko's Modern Life , and Invader Zim . The former two aired on the Nickelodeon channel, while the latter two premiered in August 2019 on Netflix. In June 2018, Cyma Zarghami stepped down as president of Nickelodeon, after 33 years of working at

6678-514: The public feed is still on a limited amount of MSOs. MTV Entertainment Group serves as the holdings company for Paramount's mature-oriented, general entertainment brands; such as its namesake flagship MTV , Comedy Central , and Paramount Network . Showtime Networks oversees Paramount's premium cable television channels , including the namesake Showtime service. Nickelodeon Group (also known as "Nickelodeon Networks Inc."; and as its family distribution name "Paramount Kids and Family Group")

6784-424: The reboot. In May 2024, it was announced that Netflix will be in charge of broadcasting the episodes. The series' visuals are a mixture of Japanese anime and European elements, which Iginio Straffi calls "the trademark Rainbow style". The main characters' original designs were based on Straffi's original sketches and later updated to 3D CGI iterations. The main characters were modelled on celebrities popular at

6890-483: The remnants of MTV Networks and Showtime Networks were separated following Viacom's split into two entities: CBS Corporation , which retained CBS , UPN , Simon & Schuster and Showtime Networks ( Showtime , The Movie Channel, and Flix ), and a spun-off company under the Viacom name, which took ownership of Paramount Pictures , BET Networks and MTV Networks (Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, and VH1). MTV Networks

6996-407: The result "looked like just another Japanese-style cartoon ... but nothing like [the modern] Winx ". He likened his feelings about the pilot to an "existential crisis" and chose to scrap the entire test animation despite an investment of over €100,000 in the completed pilot. To rework the concept, Straffi's team hired Italian fashion designers to restyle the show and give the characters

7102-462: The sensibilities of the Americans, with our European touch." Winx Club opened the opportunity for Nickelodeon and Rainbow to collaborate on additional co-productions together, including various pilots from 2014 onward and Club 57 in 2019. In the last ten years, the animation audience has skewed younger. Nowadays, it's very difficult to get a 10-year-old to watch cartoons ... when your target

7208-450: The series Winx art director, designed most of the characters' early-season clothing despite lacking a background in fashion design . When asked by an interviewer where his fashion intuition came from, Borselli responded, "From being gay". The first stage in the production of an episode is developing its script, a process that can last 5–6 months. When the series began production, the writers were based entirely in Italy. After Viacom became

7314-576: The series as "a destructive and constructive phenomenon" that introduced viewers to feminist stories about rebellious female characters. A 2019 study conducted for the Corriere della Sera reported that Winx Club was the fourth-most-popular Italian series outside of the country, with strong demand in Russia and the United States. In 2018, Giovanna Gallo of Cosmopolitan stated that the program's characters have become "real icons of fashion" and noted

7420-544: The series conveys "both positive and negative stereotypes", citing the opposite personalities of Stella and Aisha. They wrote that Stella's character incorporates stereotypically feminine passions for shopping and clothes, while Aisha represents a more realistic character with an interest in male-dominated sports. Rhodes University professor Jeanne Prinsloo wrote in 2014 that Winx Club episodes "present complex narratives with active female protagonists and positive relationships that validate 'girl power'". In an interview with

7526-521: The series multicultural and appealing to viewers from different countries. In 2019, Straffi commented on his years of collaboration with Nickelodeon, saying that "the know-how of Rainbow and the know-how of Nickelodeon are very complementary; the sensibilities of the Americans, with our European touch." The continued partnership between Rainbow and Nickelodeon on Winx Club led to the development of more co-productions, including Club 57 in 2019, on which much of Winx Club ' s staff worked. The series

7632-485: The series. Nickelodeon Consumer Products also secured merchandising rights to the revival in some regions, including the United States. Viacom would finance and staff the revived series, dividing production between Viacom's Nickelodeon Animation Studio in the United States and Rainbow S.p.A. in Italy. In February 2011, Nickelodeon's parent company Viacom acquired a 30% stake in Rainbow S.p.A. for 62 million euros (US$ 83 million). Viacom originally planned to buy out

7738-457: The seventh season of Winx Club , with a planned premiere date of 2015. Straffi said of the season: "It will be a privilege to partner once more with Nickelodeon on this." During production, Rainbow was undergoing a multimillion-euro financial loss due to the box office failure of its film Gladiators of Rome . They subsequently decided to cut costs on Winx Club , its most expensive show. The CGI-animated segments and California voice cast from

7844-411: The show's first episode to international companies. The first season had its world premiere on Italian television channel Rai 2 on 28 January 2004. From the beginning of development, Iginio Straffi planned an overarching plot that would end after "a maximum" of 78 episodes. Straffi stated that the Winx saga "would not last forever" in 2007, and he intended the first movie ( Winx Club: The Secret of

7950-462: The show's longtime crew members were not called back to work on this season, including art director Simone Borselli, who had designed the series' characters from season one to seven, and singer Elisa Rosselli, who had performed a majority of the songs. In another change from previous seasons, season eight was the first since season four to be solely produced by Rainbow, with Nickelodeon's American team serving as consultants rather than directly overseeing

8056-462: The show's popularity with cosplayers , performance artists who wear costumes and accessories to represent the show's characters. Winx Club costumes were the focus of a second-season episode of The Apprentice , in which Flavio Briatore challenged the show's teams to create three Winx outfits intended for females 25–35 years of age, which were to be submitted to the judgment of Iginio Straffi. la Repubblica ' s Marina Amaduzzi attributed

8162-518: The show's tracks are performed by Italian singer Elisa Rosselli, who started recording songs for Winx in 2007. Rosselli continued to produce music for the show (usually in collaboration with D'Aniello or Peter Zizzo from Nickelodeon) until its seventh season. Nickelodeon created a few live-action music videos for Winx Club that were performed by stars from other Nick shows. One featured Elizabeth Gillies from Victorious (who also voiced Bloom's sister, Daphne) singing "We Are Believix." This song

8268-419: The show. Frequent composers for the program include Michele Bettali, Stefano Carrara, Fabrizio Castania, and Maurizio D'Aniello. One of Nickelodeon's composers, Emmy and Grammy Award recipient Peter Zizzo , joined the team during Nickelodeon's joint production of the fifth season. His music is featured in the fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons. Each song takes between five and twelve months to complete. Many of

8374-614: The studio's new projects, including an upcoming animated reboot of the Winx Club franchise. The series follows the adventures of a group of girls known as the Winx, students at the Alfea College for Fairies, who turn into fairies to fight villains. The team is made up of Bloom , the fairy of the Dragon Flame; Stella , the fairy of the Shining Sun; Flora , the fairy of nature; Tecna , the fairy of technology; Musa ,

8480-500: The themes and characters of Winx Club appealed to both the target audience and their parents. Dubini wrote that the fairies' "defined and different personalities" made them relatable to viewers. Common Sense Media reviewer Tara Swords gave the show a three-star review, calling it "an imaginative story with bold, take-charge heroines" while also arguing that the show is hindered by its design elements. Winx Club has attracted academic interest for its presentation of gender roles . In

8586-757: The turn of the 21st century. In a 2011 interview with IO Donna , Straffi stated that Britney Spears served as an inspiration for Bloom, Cameron Diaz for Stella, Jennifer Lopez for Flora, Pink for Tecna, Lucy Liu for Musa, and Beyoncé for Aisha. This approach was part of Straffi's aim for the fairies to represent "the women of today". A team of specialized artists designs the characters' expressions and outfits for each season. About 20 tables of expressions and positions from all angles are drawn for each character. The designers start to develop characters' costumes by creating collages from magazine clippings of recent fashion trends. Using these as references, they draw multiple outfits for each character. Simone Borselli,

8692-469: Was animated for the Italian Pavilion. In 2015, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi visited Rainbow's studio and wrote that "the Winx are a beautiful story of Italian talent". In April 2004, The Walt Disney Company filed an unsuccessful copyright infringement lawsuit against Rainbow. The company accused Rainbow of copying the Winx Club concept from its W.I.T.C.H. comic book, which

8798-712: Was announced that Spike would be relaunched as Paramount Network in 2018, aligning with the namesake film studio and being positioned as Viacom's main general entertainment outlet. In October 2018, Kevin Kay was announced to be leaving his position as head of the Entertainment Group. CMT was transferred from the Entertainment Group to the Music Group under president Chris McCarthy, with his exit. Executive Kent Alterman would take charge of Paramount Network and TV Land to go with his current leadership of Comedy Central and Bellator MMA . In 2019, after acquiring

8904-411: Was created and directed by Italian animator Iginio Straffi . It premiered on 28 January 2004, becoming a ratings success in Italy and on Nickelodeon networks internationally. The show is set in a magical universe that is inhabited by fairies, witches, and other mythical creatures. The main character is a fairy warrior named Bloom , who enrolls at Alfea College to train and hone her skills. The series uses

9010-456: Was due to cultural differences. On 27 June 2011, the first special produced with Nickelodeon premiered on Nick U.S. to 2.278 million viewers. Each of the following three specials performed better than the previous ones, with the fourth ("The Shadow Phoenix") rating #1 in its time slot among viewers aged 2–11. During the first quarter of 2012, an average of 38.5 million viewers watched the series across nine of Nickelodeon's international outlets,

9116-432: Was formerly Showtime Beyond from 1999 and was discontinued on July 15, 2020. Channel was originally known as VH1 Smooth before being relaunched as VH1 Classic Rock on August 1, 1999. The channel was renamed VH1 Classic in 2000 and was later rebranded as MTV Classic on August 1, 2016. Channel was originally known as Music: High Definition (MHD) before being rebranded as Palladia on September 1, 2008. On February 1, 2016,

9222-416: Was founded on December 1, 1977, by Warner Cable , itself a division of Warner Communications , to launch QUBE , an interactive cable television network. Seeing the potential in the creation of new cable networks, Warner Cable divested QUBE's biggest brands, Star Channel, Pinwheel and Sight on Sound, into nationwide outlets. Star Channel began by satellite in January 1979 and was renamed The Movie Channel by

9328-830: Was given a blimp background in the days prior to the 2010 and 2011 Kids' Choice Awards to match the award given out at the ceremony; beginning the week of September 7, 2010, the logo bug was surrounded by a splat design (in the manner of the logo used from 2005 to 2009) during new episodes of Nickelodeon original series. The new logo was adopted in the United Kingdom on February 15, 2010, in Spain on February 19, 2010, in Southeast Asia on March 15, 2010, in Latin America on April 5, 2010, in India on June 25, 2010 and on

9434-435: Was having with HBO and Cinemax ), WASEC established a joint venture with Viacom , merging TMC with their premium movie network Showtime to form Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc. ; WASEC, however, had no operational involvement in the joint venture. On June 25, 1984, Warner Communications made the decision to divest Nickelodeon, MTV, and VH-1 (launched in 1985 over the channel space of Turner 's Cable Music Channel ) into

9540-527: Was nearly equal across the first three seasons; in the target demographic of 4–14 years of age, females represented only 3% more of the audience than males. The premiere of the fourth season set a record for an animated show's audience on Rai 2 with 500,000 viewers. In 2007, Iginio Straffi noted that there were lower ratings in English-speaking territories than in Europe at the time, which he surmised

9646-401: Was not made as a direct continuation of the previous season. At Iginio Straffi's decision, Season 8 was heavily retooled to appeal to a preschool target audience . For season eight, Rainbow's creative team restyled the characters to appear younger, hoping to increase the appeal toward preschoolers. The plot lines were simplified so that they could be understood by a younger audience. Most of

9752-603: Was officially launched as Nickelodeon . Channel space was previously held by Noggin (a joint venture with Sesame Workshop ) before being replaced with the Nick Jr. Channel in 2009. Channel was originally known as MTV Hits before being rebranded as NickMusic on September 9, 2016. Channel was originally known as Nicktoons TV until 2003 when it was rebranded as Nicktoons which was rebranded again as Nicktoons Network in 2005 and finally rebranded yet again as Nicktoons (styled as "nicktoons") once more in 2009. Channel space

9858-682: Was originally co-owned by CBS Corporation through Showtime Networks and the Smithsonian Institution until November 7, 2019, when the Institution sold its equity interest to Showtime. Channel was originally a block on Nick at Nite . Previously owned by CBS Corporation, and before 2019, half of the share was owned by Lionsgate . Formerly known as TVGN, TV Guide Network, and TV Guide Channel. Established by Viacom's Showtime Networks in 1992 and later became part of CBS Corporation following Viacom's split in 2006. Channel

9964-585: Was originally known as VH1 MegaHits before being discontinued in July 2005 to facilitate Logo launch. Channel was previously owned by Gaylord Entertainment Company , acquired in 1997 by the CBS Cable division of CBS Corporation , and became part of MTV Networks when CBS merged with Viacom . Channel created as VH1 Country before Viacom/CBS merger. Channel was originally launched under Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment and tested as Pinwheel until 1979, then

10070-431: Was originally launched under Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment and tested as Sight on Sound until 1981, when it officially launched as MTV . Channel started as Ha! , merged with HBO 's The Comedy Channel the following year, became entirely owned by Viacom in 2003. Originally TNN from 1983 to 2003 (as The Nashville Network until 1997; as The National Network until 2003) and as Spike until January 2018. Channel

10176-521: Was particularly difficult, and it was animated separately from the characters. In Italy, the series' voice actors include Letizia Ciampa (Bloom), Perla Liberatori (Stella), Ilaria Latini (Flora), Domitilla D'Amico (Tecna), Gemma Donati (Musa), and Laura Lenghi (Aisha). According to Ilaria Latini, the characters were cast before the character designs were finalized and the actors were shown black-and-white sketches of their roles. The actors record their lines in Rome. Seasons 1–4 were animated to match

10282-443: Was permanently revoked by Rainbow in 2009. Upon its debut, Winx Club was a ratings success. During its first season in 2004, the series became one of the highest-rated programs on Rai 2 with an average audience share of 17%. Among viewers 4–14 years old, the average share was 45%. In France and Belgium, the season reached a 56% share among 10 to 14-year-olds. According to Rai in 2009, the gender mix of Winx Club 's audience

10388-486: Was previously held by Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids from 1999 to 2007, and a 24-hour version of Noggin's The N brand from 2007 to 2009. Channel originally owned by the first incarnation of Viacom , and earlier with former partner Warner-Amex, and later became part of CBS Corporation following Viacom's split in 2006. Showtime was established in 1976, and The Movie Channel was established in 1973 as Star Channel and relaunched under its current name in 1979. Channel

10494-427: Was published over a year after production on Winx Club began. Disney applied for an injunction order to halt the further release of the Winx Club series and comic magazine; to declare the Winx Club trademark invalid; and to seize the periodical and film material bearing the allegedly infringing Winx Club name. Rainbow won the case against Disney, and the judge declared there were no confusing similarities between

10600-501: Was released as a stand-alone single on iTunes. Another music video featured Cymphonique Miller from How to Rock singing "Winx, You're Magic Now." Miller also did a live performance of her Winx song at Nickelodeon's upfront presentation in Las Vegas. Winx Club first premiered on the Italian television channel Rai 2 on 28 January 2004. Reruns later aired on Rai Gulp , a sister channel to Rai 2 aimed at children, shortly after

10706-415: Was renamed Viacom Media Networks in 2011. In the fall of 2012, media analysts began to report that ratings among some of Viacom's leading brands in the U.S. were experiencing declines in viewership. MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon were of most concern to investors as the three account for roughly 50% of Viacom's operating profit, estimated David Bank of RBC Capital Markets. In 2017, Viacom announced

10812-415: Was renamed ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks , and reorganized. MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo were reorganized into the "Entertainment & Youth Group", with the addition of Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Smithsonian Channel , and TV Land. BET Networks was merged with Showtime Networks under CEO David Nevins , who also temporarily gained oversight of Pop TV (formerly co-owned with Lionsgate ); Pop TV

10918-425: Was responsible for arranging the co-production partnership and became a member of Rainbow's board of directors . In addition to financing the television series, Viacom provided the resources necessary to produce a third Winx film . In 2019, Iginio Straffi commented on the two studios' near-decade of continued work together, saying that "the know-how of Rainbow and the know-how of Nickelodeon are very complementary;

11024-692: Was subject to budget cuts in 2014, during its seventh season; the 3D computer-generated segments and Hollywood voice actors were deemed too costly. The seventh season eventually premiered on Nickelodeon's worldwide channels in 2015. After a four-year hiatus, an eighth season premiered in 2019. At Straffi's decision, this season was heavily retooled for a preschool target audience . A live-action adaptation of Winx Club for young adults, titled Fate: The Winx Saga , premiered in 2021. In January 2023, Viacom (now known as Paramount Global ) sold its stake in Rainbow SpA back to Straffi, allowing him full control of

11130-570: Was successful for children in the 6–11 age group. By February 2007, the band's song "Crazy Car" was on the Billboard Hot 100 , and the soundtrack albums from the first two seasons, each of which signed to Columbia Records , were on Billboard 200 . The only greenlit series produced under the Sony Music partnership, Victorious , ran from 2010 to 2013. A similar hit music-themed sitcom Big Time Rush ran from 2009 to 2013, and featured

11236-533: Was transferred to the Entertainment & Youth Group on January 15, 2020. On February 16, 2022, ViacomCBS was renamed as Paramount Global, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks was renamed Paramount Media Networks . On May 9, 2023, Paramount announced that it would restructure its U.S. domestic network business. In 2022, MTV Entertainment Group partnered with Second Chance Studios to help formerly incarcerated individuals launch media careers. Channel

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