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With kids, movies
are cable's big draw


Account for five of the top 10 shows in first quarter

Mar 28, 2008

On broadcast, the hot thing among kids 2-11 is reality, but on cable, where perhaps even more reality abounds, it's quite the opposite. Movies are overwhelmingly the favorite genre.

In large part it's because there are so many more movies, and more movies targeted to kids.

Five of the top 10 shows during the recently ended first quarter of 2008 were films, most of them made-for-TV movies. Nickelodeon’s “Fairly Odd Parents” movie, “Fairly Odd Baby,” which aired in February, far outdistanced the competition during first quarter, placing first among 2-11s with 5.55 million tuning in, according to Nielsen data crunched by Turner Networks.

That was 1.47 million more than the second-place program, another Nickelodeon spinoff of an already popular show, “Zoey 101: Goodbye Zoey.” It drew 4.08 million viewers in early January.

Disney’s original movie “Minutemen,” which aired in late January, was No. 3 with 3.78 million viewers 2-11.

Two more movies, a rerun of “Baby” and Disney’s theatrical repeat “The Incredibles,” also made the top 10 for the month with kids.

Kids’ interest in movies isn’t new, but it has ramped up since the debut of “High School Musical” more than two years ago. That movie, along with last summer’s sequel, draws a huge audience every time it’s replayed, no matter that the two films are available on DVD and have run dozens of times.

Children find comfort in watching things over and over, and movies give parents some downtime, with most of them premiering on weekends.

This trend ought to continue.

There are several upcoming movies on Nickelodeon and Disney that are already receiving buzz months before their debuts. At its upfront presentation earlier this month, Nick previewed its first-ever original movie not based on an existing franchise.

“Gym Teacher” stars “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’s” Christopher Meloni as a former elite gymnast now vying for gym-coach-of-the-year honors against a snotty prep school teacher. It will premiere later this year.

Disney also has a much-anticipated movie on the shelf, the Jonas Brothers’ “Camp Rock,” coming this June. And “Cheetah Girls: One World,” a second sequel to the very popular original about a girls’ singing group, will air in late summer.

***

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

Among teens 12-17, Fox led with a 2.2 rating and 8 share, followed by CBS at 1.4/5, ABC at 1.2/5, CW at 1.1/4, Univision 0.8/3, NBC at 0.7/3, Telemundo at 0.2/1, Telefutura at 0.1/1 and Azteca at 0.0/0.

Among kids 2-11, Fox was first with a 1.6/6, followed by Univision and ABC at 1.2/5, CBS at 0.7/3, NBC at 0.6/2, CW at 0.5/2, 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. Nickelodeon’s “Dora the Explorer” (Monday 10:30 a.m.); 2. Nickelodeon’s “Dora the Explorer” (Monday 10 a.m.); 3. Nickelodeon’s “Ni Hao Kai-Lan” (Monday 11 a.m.); 4. Nickelodeon’s “Dora The Explorer” (Monday noon); 5. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Wednesday 6:30 p.m.)

The top five shows among kids 6-11: 1. Disney’s “Hannah Montana” (Friday 7 p.m.); 2. Nickelodeon’s “iCarly” (Saturday 8 p.m.); 3. Disney’s “The Luck of the Irish” (Monday 8 p.m.); 4. Nickelodeon’s “Zoey 101” (Saturday 8:30 p.m.); 5. Disney’s “Ella Enchanted” (Friday 8 p.m.)

The top five shows among kids 9-14: 1. Fox’s “American Idol” (Tuesday, 8 p.m.); 2. Nickelodeon’s “Zoey 101” (Sunday 8 p.m.); 3. Disney’s “Hannah Montana” (Friday 7 p.m.); 4. Nickelodeon’s “iCarly” (Saturday 8 p.m.); 5. Nickelodeon’s “Zoey 101” (Saturday 8:30 p.m.)

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

Program

Net

Rtg%

(000)

1

DORA THE EXPLORER-03/17/2008

NICK

8.1

1295

2

DORA THE EXPLORER-03/17/2008

NICK

7.5

1198

3

NI HAO KAI-LAN-03/17/2008

NICK

7

1122

4

DORA THE EXPLORER-03/17/2008

NICK

6.8

1095

5

SPONGEBOB-03/19/2008

NICK

6.8

1081

6

YO GABBA GABBA-03/17/2008

NICK

6.6

1054

7

SPONGEBOB-03/17/2008

NICK

6.5

1046

8

SPONGEBOB-03/19/2008

NICK

6.5

1040

9

SPONGEBOB-03/17/2008

NICK

6.4

1032

10

SPONGEBOB-03/19/2008

NICK

6.4

1032

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

 

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

Program

Net

Rtg%

(000)

1

HANNAH MONTANA-03/21/2008

DSNY

6.4

1547

2

ICARLY-03/22/2008

NICK

6.2

1515

3

LUCK OF THE IRISH, THE-03/17/2008

DSNY

6.2

1514

4

ZOEY 101-03/22/2008

NICK

6.2

1509

5

ELLA ENCHANTED-03/21/2008

DSNY

6

1458

6

SUITE LIFE OF ZACK & CODY-03/21/2008

DSNY

6

1447

7

SPONGEBOB-03/22/2008

NICK

5.9

1431

8

ZOEY 101-03/23/2008

NICK

5.8

1402

9

AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY-03/18/2008

FOX

5.6

1353

10

ICARLY-03/18/2008

NICK

5.4

1322

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

 

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

Rank

Program

Net

Rtg%

(000)

1

AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY-03/18/2008

FOX

6.1

1492

2

ZOEY 101-03/23/2008

NICK

5.7

1399

3

HANNAH MONTANA-03/21/2008

DSNY

5.7

1397

4

ICARLY-03/22/2008

NICK

5.7

1394

5

ZOEY 101-03/22/2008

NICK

5.6

1379

6

AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY-03/19/2008

FOX

5.4

1328

7

LUCK OF THE IRISH, THE-03/17/2008

DSNY

5.3

1304

8

ELLA ENCHANTED-03/21/2008

DSNY

5.2

1258

9

ZOEY 101-03/23/2008

NICK

4.8

1172

10

SUITE LIFE OF ZACK & CODY-03/21/2008

DSNY

4.8

1164

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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