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Among kids, 'Kid
Nation' finds a place


One of the top shows among 2-11 with a 1.8 rating

Sep 28, 2007

When you have a show about children called “Kid Nation,” the natural question is, are the kids themselves embracing it?

The answer seems to be yes, despite airing against one of the top-rated shows on broadcast among kids 2-11 and on a network, CBS, whose shows skew much older.

“Nation” is averaging a 1.8 kids 2-11 rating through two outings, or more than double what CBS averaged last week, the week ended Sept. 23, in that demographic.

The show, about a group of kids who forge their own society without any grown-ups, handily won its Wednesday 8 p.m. timeslot last week with a 1.9 rating, even outdrawing the CW’s young-skewing “America’s Next Top Model.”

This week’s second showing dipped 16 percent from the opener to a 1.6 in that demo, but that came against a special edition of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” by far the night’s top-rated show in the demographic.

The show ranked third for the night in kids among the Big Five networks.

"Nation" could bounce back up next week, when “Stars” returns to Monday and Tuesday showings.

Meanwhile, among adults 18-49, “Nation” is neither a hit nor a miss, ranking second in its timeslot this week and declining just 7 percent from its opener with a 2.8 rating.  But among total viewers, it saw a far steeper decline, 19 percent, to 7.6 million viewers.

“Nation” received a lot of pre-debut publicity about allegations that CBS violated child labor laws in filming the group of children 8-15 for 40 days.

But that's probably not what drew the younger viewers. More likely it's because the show features other children, and it's one of the few that do these days.

Whereas in the ‘80s and ‘90s kids were central characters in sitcoms like “Full House,” “The Cosby Show” and “Married with Children,” today the vast majority of network comedies, including “How I Met Your Mother,” “’Til Death” and all of NBC’s programs, feature very few children.

But it's also because kids in general love reality shows. CBS’s “Survivor,” ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and Fox’s “American Idol” are among the most popular with kids 2-11. “Nation” has both kids and reality.

Still, even a strong following among 2-11s probably won’t mean much in the longer run for the CBS show.

The network isn’t courting that demographic, and if the show slips too much among 18-49s or total viewers, CBS will yank it even if kids 2-11 are still watching.

Meanwhile, in other younger viewer ratings for the week ending Sept. 23:

Among teens 12-17, Fox and the CW tied for first with a 1.6 rating and 6 share, followed by NBC at 1.1/4, Univision at 1.0/4, CBS at 1.0/3, ABC at 0.9/3, Telemundo at 0.3/1, Telefutura at 0.1/0, and Azteca at 0.0/0.

Among kids 2-11, Univision and Fox led with a 1.2/5, followed by NBC at 0.9/4, CBS at 0.8/4, the CW and ABC at 0.8/3, Telemundo at 0.3/1, Telefutura at 0.1/1, and Azteca at 0.0/0.

The top five shows among kids 2-5: 1. “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” (Disney, Saturday 9 a.m.); 2. “The Backyardigans” (Nickelodeon, Monday 7 p.m.); 3. “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” (Disney, Sunday 9:30 a.m.); 4. “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” (Disney, Sunday 9 a.m.); 5. “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” (Disney, Saturday 9:30 a.m.)

The top five shows among kids 6-11: 1. “Cory in the House” (Disney, Friday 8 p.m.); 2. “Hannah Montana” (Disney, Sunday 7:30 p.m.); 3. “Freaky Friday” (Disney, Friday 9 p.m.); 4. “Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl” (Disney, Monday 8 p.m.); 5. “Holes” (Disney, Saturday 9 p.m.)

The top five shows among kids 9-14: 1. “Hannah Montana” (Disney, Friday 8:30 p.m.); 2. “Hannah Montana” (Disney, Sunday 7:30 p.m.); 3. “Cory in the House” (Disney, Friday 8 p.m.); 4. “Freaky Friday” (Disney, Friday 9 p.m.); 5. “Holes” (Disney, Saturday 9 p.m.)
 

TOP 10 PROGRAMS – BROADCAST & CABLE
Kids 2-5
Week Ended Sept. 23


Program

Net

Rtg%

(000)

1

MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE-09/22/2007

DSNY

6.1

977

2

BACKYARDIGANS: SUPERSPY-09/17/2007

NICK

5.9

947

3

MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE-09/23/2007

DSNY

5.8

930

4

MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE-09/23/2007

DSNY

5.8

923

5

MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE-09/22/2007

DSNY

5.4

868

6

MY FRIENDS TIGGER & POOH-09/22/2007

DSNY

5.2

839

7

FAIRLY ODD PARENTS-09/22/2007

NICK

5.1

819

8

LITTLE EINSTEINS-09/22/2007

DSNY

5.1

809

9

DORA THE EXPLORER-09/20/2007

NICK

5

801

10

SPONGEBOB-09/17/2007

NICK

5

798

Source: Disney-ABC Television Group, based on data from Nielsen Media Research

 

TOP 10 PROGRAMS – BROADCAST & CABLE
Kids 6-11
Week Ended Sept. 23


Program

Net

Rtg%

(000)

1

S CORY IN THE HOUSE-09/21/2007

DSNY

7.6

1857

2

S HANNAH MONTANA-09/23/2007

DSNY

7

1709

3

FREAKY FRIDAY (2003)-09/21/2007

DSNY

6.8

1659

4

ADV OF SHARK BOY & LAVA G-09/17/2007

DSNY

6.7

1626

5

HOLES-09/22/2007

DSNY

6.1

1470

6

ICARLY-09/23/2007

NICK

5.9

1425

7

S CORY IN THE HOUSE-09/22/2007

DSNY

5.8

1404

8

ICARLY-09/23/2007

NICK

5.8

1404

9

S HANNAH MONTANA-09/23/2007

DSNY

5.6

1365

10

S CORY IN THE HOUSE-09/21/2007

DSNY

7.6

1857

Source: Disney-ABC Television Group, based on data from Nielsen Media Research

 

TOP 10 PROGRAMS – CABLE
Kids 9-14
Week Ended Sept. 23

Rank

Program

Net

Rtg%

(000)

1

S HANNAH MONTANA-09/21/2007

DSNY

7.1

1732

2

S HANNAH MONTANA-09/23/2007

DSNY

6.1

1489

3

S CORY IN THE HOUSE-09/21/2007

DSNY

6

1470

4

FREAKY FRIDAY (2003)-09/21/2007

DSNY

6

1468

5

HOLES-09/22/2007

DSNY

6

1456

6

ZOEY 101-09/23/2007

NICK

5.8

1420

7

ADV OF SHARK BOY & LAVA G-09/17/2007

DSNY

5.7

1380

8

ICARLY-09/23/2007

NICK

5.1

1251

9

S HANNAH MONTANA-09/23/2007

DSNY

4.9

1208

10

S HANNAH MONTANA-09/23/2007

DSNY

4.8

1168

Source: Disney-ABC Television Group, based on data from Nielsen Media Research

 



Toni Fitzgerald is a staff writer for Media Life.




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