| medialifemagazine.com Younger viewers
Thus far this season, ABC’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” the animated 1966 classic, is the top special among kids 2-11. The show, which aired Monday at 8:30 p.m., averaged a 6.9 rating in the demo, 0.5 ahead of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” the No. 2 show, which aired Wednesday at 8 p.m. Monday’s 8 p.m. airing of “Shrek the Halls” was the third-highest-rated at a 5.5, while “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” trailed with a 5.2, airing at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Last year “Shrek” and “Grinch” tied for the highest-rated holiday special, well ahead of “Rudolph.” But perhaps it’s no surprise that “Shrek,” which aired for just the second time, fell back this year. “Rudolph,” which debuted in 1964, and “Grinch” have been airing annually for a combined 86 years, and they’ve become as much a tradition for adults as for kids. Both tune in out of habit. While “Shrek” drew huge numbers last year, averaging an 11.6 in 2-11s, the novelty of that special wore off in year two. It was no longer a must-see and yet still a couple decades short of a classic. Same goes for “Polar,” despite airing the day after Thanksgiving once again. The 2004 theatrical release lost nearly half of its audience from last year, when it averaged a 6.0. Interestingly, even the classics have seen ratings dip this year, mirroring a pattern seen for all programming across the networks this year. Year to date, the Big Five are down more than 15 percent compared to last year. Even the lowest-rated holiday specials more than doubled the broadcast networks' usual primetime average, but several of them dipped quite steeply year to year, with “Town” the only one rising year to year, up 13 percent from a 4.6. “Shrek” fell by more than half and “Grinch” was off 41 percent from an 11.6, while “Rudolph” fell 18 percent from a 7.8. Still, some of that can be attributed to the competition, or rather lack thereof, last year. Many kids’ specials saw ratings rise compared to the previous year because of the writers’ strike, which effectively knocked out any other broadcast competition. There are still a handful of Christmas specials yet to air, including CBS’s “Frosty the Snowman” and NBC’s new Muppet movie. *** Meanwhile, in other younger viewer ratings for the week ending Nov. 30: Among teens 12-17, Fox led with a 1.7 rating and 6 share, followed by ABC at 1.6/5, CBS at 1.3/5, NBC at 1.2/4, Univision at 0.9/3, the CW at 0.6/2, Telemundo at 0.3/1, Telefutura at 0.1/0 and Azteca at 0.0/0. Among kids 2-11, ABC was first with a 1.8/7, followed by Univision at 1.4/5, NBC at 1.0/4, Fox at 0.9/3, CBS at 0.7/3, Telemundo at 0.4/2, Telefutura at 0.3/1, the CW at 0.2/1 and Azteca at 0.1/0. And in younger viewer ratings for the week ended Nov. 23 (note: most recent ratings were delayed by the Thanksgiving holiday): The top five shows among kids 2-5: 1. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Monday 5:30 p.m.); 2. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Thursday 4:30 p.m); 3. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Friday 4:30 p.m.); 4. Nickelodeon’s “Dora the Explorer” (Thursday 10:30 a.m.); 5. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Friday 5 p.m.) The top five shows among kids 6-11: 1. Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” (Sunday 8:30 p.m.); 2. Disney’s “Hannah Montana” (Sunday 8 p.m.); 3. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Saturday 9:30 a.m.); 4. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Saturday 9 a.m.); 5. Disney’s “The Suite Life on Deck” (Friday 8 p.m.)
The top five shows among kids 9-14: 1. Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” (Sunday 8:30 p.m.); 2. Disney’s “Hannah Montana” (Sunday 8 p.m.); 3. Disney’s “The Suite Life on Deck” (Friday 8 p.m.); 4. Disney’s “Hannah Montana” (Monday 7:30 p.m.); 5. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Saturday 9:30 a.m.)
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