Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (known as Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in its fifth and final season) is an American animated television series developed by Ciro Nieli, Joshua Sternin, and Jennifer Ventimilia for Nickelodeon, based on the characters created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. The series begins with the Turtles emerging from their sewer home for the first time, using their ninjutsu training to fight enemies in present-day New York City. The series ran in the United States from September 28, 2012,[5] to November 12, 2017.[5] The series was first announced in October 2009, following the news that Nickelodeon's parent company Viacom had acquired the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. The show was created to reach a core audience of boys aged 6 to 11; it was one half of Nickelodeon's strategy to reboot two established brands for new viewers, coinciding with Nickelodeon Animation Studio's development of new Winx Club episodes for girls. It was produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio and LowBar Productions. Bardel Entertainment handled layout and CG animation services.[6] During the months leading to its premiere, Nickelodeon and Playmates Toys released lines of merchandise featuring the new character designs. The two-part premiere took place on September 28 and September 29, 2012, reaching 3.9 million viewers.[7] The debut ratings were the highest for a Nickelodeon animated series since 2009, leading to a second season pickup in October 2012. Three more seasons followed; the fifth and final season was rebranded as Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and did not fully air on Nickelodeon, as episodes 115–121 premiered on its sister channel Nicktoons.