Nickelodeon was a Japanese television channel for children, teens and adults. Started on November 1998 as a cable and satellite TV channel, Viacom attempted to bring their Nickelodeon brand to the Japanese market. However, due to declining viewership, the television network was taken off the air on September 30, 2009. It was once thought that the network had been shut down abruptly during a SpongeBob SquarePants bumper, however this has been proven false. After the network's closure, some programs were moved to other pay channels (including MTV Japan), DTH satellite channels and terrestrial networks. New programs made their national television premiere on other channels. For example, The Penguins of Madagascar made its debut on NHK Educational Television on April 4, 2010. The official web