A chastened Nickleodeon, which launched and flamed out in Germany in three years in the mid 1990s, is coming back to Germany for one more try. And it’ll have to do it, at least for now, without its marquee series SpongeBob SquarePants. Rights to that series now reside with the local broadcaster that pushed them out in the first place, Super RTL.  

“Let them come,” Super RTL managing director Claude Schmit is quoted as saying in today’s Hollywood Reporter. “We aren’t afraid of anyone, especially not Nickelodeon. Usually it’s enough when you get beat once in a market. But if they want another round, we’re ready.”

Super RTL is a joint venture between the Walt Disney Co. and RTL Group. With an average 24.1% share of the 3- to 13-year-old demographic, RTL has twice the ratings of its closest competitor–the public TV kid channel KiKa.

Nick’s reentry into Germany is partly explained by some moves of parent company Viacom, which recently acquired German music TV group VIVA.