A royal welcome for Princess Sofia

Disney has a new princess franchise, and it’s already looking like a big winner.

The Disney Channel movie “Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess” on Sunday night became the No. 1 cable telecast in five years among kids ages 2-5, also breaking records among girls 2-5 and–showing that you don’t have to be a little girl to appreciate a good princess story–adult women.

“Sofia” averaged 1.5 million 2-5s, according to Nielsen, the best for any cable show since the Nov. 12, 2007 debut of Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob Atlantis Pantis.”

It also became the most-watched cable program among girls 2-5 in 10 years, since a May 2002 airing of “Oswald.”

“Sofia” became Disney’s No. 1 show ever among girls 2-5 and No. 2 show among kids 2-5, behind “High School Musical 2.”

It also set a record as the No. 1 preschool show ever on the network among adults 18-49 and women 18-49.

All this is very good news for Disney Junior, the recently launched preschool spinoff of Disney Channel, because “Sofia” will become a regular series on Disney Junior come January.

It will also be part of the preschool block airing on Disney Channel.

Disney Junior’s ratings will not be available until April, but if “Sofia’s” numbers hold up, it will undoubtedly become the top show on the network.

The strong numbers may be a relief for Disney after one of the show’s producers ignited some controversy online last month by describing the character as Disney’s first Latina princess.

Disney quickly clarified that Sofia was not Latina but Caucasian, which led to some backlash among those who felt Disney should have added some diversity to its royal lineup.

Sofia, of course, joins a long line of Disney princesses who have starred in hugely popular films and sparked a tremendous amount of merchandising.

The princesses have generated $4 billion in retail sales since 2000 and have ranked among the top 10 holiday toys the past five years, according to the National Retail Federation, and sold more than 142 million books, 81 million sticker packs and 16 million Disney Princess magazines.

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In cable ratings for the week ended Nov. 18:

Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): ESPN, TBS, USA, FX, A&E.

Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): ESPN, Disney Channel, USA, Fox News Channel, History.

Top five cable news networks in primetime (25-54): Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNN, HLN, CNBC.

Top five cable news programs (total viewers): 1. Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" (Thursday, 8 p.m.); 2. Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" (Wednesday, 8 p.m.); 3. Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" (Friday, 8 p.m.);4. Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" (Tuesday, 8 p.m.); 5. Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" (Monday, 8 p.m.)

Top movie (18-49s): No movie during the week was among the top 50 among 18-49s.

Top sporting event (total viewers): ESPN's "Monday Night Football: Kansas City/Pittsburgh" (Monday, 8:30 p.m.) 12.82 million.

Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: ESPN's "NFL Football: Kansas City/Pittsburgh" (Monday, 8:30 p.m.); AMC's "The Walking Dead" (Sunday, 9 p.m.); ESPN's "SportsCenter" (Monday, 11:46 p.m.); FX's "Sons of Anarchy" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.); A&E's "Duck Dynasty" (Wednesday, 10:30 p.m.);

Show on the rise: A&E's "Duck Dynasty," Wednesday, 10:30 p.m. The reality series averaged 2.54 million viewers 25-54, up 14 percent from the previous week's 2.23 million.

Show on the decline: TLC's "Sister Wives" Sunday, 9 p.m. The return of the reality show averaged 1.38 million 18-49s, down 36 percent from the 2.16 million the network averaged in the slot the previous week with "Breaking Amish."

Tags: cable, cable news, cable recap, cable tv ratings, disney channel, disney junior, disney princess, DSNY, girls, HIST, kids, primetime, princess sofia, reality, sofia the first, TBSC, TOP