Some of the most popular and well-performing titles on Netflix come from the children’s cable TV network, Nickelodeon. Nickelodeon is owned by Paramount Global, a company with its own streaming service known as Paramount+. As a result, you may wonder why there are so many Nickelodeon titles still streaming on Netflix.
Editor’s Note: This article largely only applies to Netflix in the United States. Other regions libraries will vary.
Netflix and Paramount have had a positive relationship going back many years. The first major collaboration of the modern streaming era came with the announcement of Pinky Malinky in 2018. It premiered in 2019 as the first ever NickToon produced for release outside of Nickelodeon. Shortly after Pinky Malinky’s announcement, Nickelodeon revealed plans for an Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action series to stream exclusively on Netflix. As of 2022 that series is still filming. In 2020 Netflix released a second Netflix-exclusive NickToon, Glitch Techs. Announced in 2016, the initial plans seemed to be a proper Nickelodeon release, but years later Paramount must have been looking to reach the broader Netflix audience.
On February 5, 2019, Paramount announced plans to release The Loud House Movie on Netflix instead of in theatres. They also revealed plans for a Netflix Original wrap-up film for their popular Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles NickToon series. That same year, Nickelodeon sent their highly-anticipated revival films for Rocko’s Modern Life and Invader Zim to Netflix too.
Then, in November 2019, Netflix and Nickelodeon capped off the year by agreeing on an output deal which remains active to this day. As part of the deal, the two companies work together to create original animated films and series based on new and existing Nickelodeon franchises. Not long after this, Paramount rebranded CBS All Access as Paramount+.
The biggest news in the time since came in January 2022 when new Nickelodeon sitcom, That Girl Lay Lay, dropped on Netflix shortly after its first season aired on TV. The coverage on this deal also suggested it would be a Netflix Original in some countries. It remains unknown whether Paramount+ will be able to stream the series at all. It’s also unknown if That Girl Lay Lay is actually part of the 2019 output deal, but previous press releases on the series mentioned nothing about Netflix.
Why Does Nickelodeon Still License Content To Netflix?
Brian Robbins, President and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon (could use a shorter title), has often mentioned in interviews that Paramount chooses to license content on a non-exclusive basis to Netflix with the hopes of exposing it to a large audience before pulling it back as an exclusive and encouraging people to sign up for Paramount+.
I think the strategy is a bit silly and it doesn’t seem like they’re following through as Nickelodeon shows they’re adding are mostly full series and none of them really leave. For plenty of families there is no reason to subscribe to Paramount+ when everything they want is on Netflix. That strategy is only truly being utilized for CBS shows which do indeed leave 1 year after they’re licensed. The Nick content is just hanging around. They even renewed iCarly when it was set to expire earlier this month. More likely, Nickelodeon content performs well on Netflix and Paramount isn’t ready to give up the money.
It remains to be seen with Paramount’s newfound focus on Paramount+ that they announced at Investor Day 2022 whether or not they’ll stop licensing so much to Netflix, but for now, they have a fairly large library and we’re here to lay it all out.
Nickelodeon Series
| Title | Seasons Available | Date Added |
|---|---|---|
| Are You Afraid of the Dark | Season 1 | October 1, 2021 |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender | Books 1-3 (Complete) | May 15, 2020 |
| Bella & the Bulldogs | Season 1-2 (Complete) | November 1, 2019 (Season 1) November 1, 2021 (Season 2) |
| Big Time Rush | Seasons 1-4 (Complete) | March 26, 2021 |
| Bureau of Magical Things | Season 1 | July 1, 2021 |
| Glitch Techs (Netflix Original) | Seasons 1-2 (Complete) | February 21, 2020 (Season 1) August 17, 2020 (Season 2) |
| Haunted Hathaways | Seasons 1-2 (Complete) | January 1, 2021 |
| Henry Danger | Seasons 1-3 | January 15, 2021 |
| iCarly | Seasons 1-3 — Strangely, season 2 and 3 are blended | February 8, 2021 February 8, 2022 (Renewed) |
| Legend of Korra | Books 1-4 (Complete) | August 14, 2020 |
| Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn | Seasons 1-4 (Complete) | April 12, 2021 |
| Pinky Malinky (Netflix Original) | Seasons 1-3 (Complete) | January 1, 2019 (Season 1) April 22, 2019 (Season 2) July 17, 2019 (Season 3) |
| Sam & Cat | Season 1 (Complete) — Listed as 1 and 1B | November 1, 2019 (Season 1) |
| That Girl Lay Lay | Season 1 (Complete) | January 21, 2022 |
| The Thundermans | Seasons 1-2 | November 1, 2021 |
| Victorious | Seasons 1-2 | November 1, 2019 (Seasons 1-3) November 2, 2021 (Season 3 removed) |
Nickelodeon Movies
Most of these are made-for-TV films but Nickelodeon does produce theatrical releases, including Good Burger. With so many added on November 1, 2019 it seems likely that they’ll all be leaving November 1, 2022 or 2023.
| Title | Date Added |
|---|---|
| 100 Things to Do Before High School | November 1, 2019 |
| Big Time Movie | November 1, 2019 |
| A Fairly Odd Summer | November 1, 2019 |
| Good Burger | January 1, 2021 |
| Invader Zim: Enter the FLORPUS (Netflix Original) | August 16, 2019 |
| Jinxed | November 1, 2019 |
| Legends of the Hidden Temple | November 1, 2019 |
| Liar Liar Vampire | November 1, 2019 |
| The Loud House Movie (Netflix Original) | August 20, 2021 |
| Massively Mixed Up Middle School Mystery | November 1, 2019 |
| Mr Lemoncello Library | November 1, 2019 |
| Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling (Netflix Original) | August 9, 2019 |