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'Zoey 101' soars
with star's pregnancy


Finale special doubles Nick show's season average

Jan 11, 2008

Sixteen-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears’ shocking baby news is creating quite a media boom. Weeks after OK!’s exclusive cover story on the “Zoey 101” star’s pregnancy pushed the two-year-old magazine to its best-ever newsstand sales, a special “Zoey” movie on Nickelodeon produced record ratings.

“Goodbye Zoey,” which also served as the third-season finale for the show, averaged 7.3 million total viewers, a series best and more than double the show’s season average.

Many of those viewers were kids.

“Zoey” ranked first for the week among kids 6-11, drawing 3.27 million, and among tweens 9-14, drawing 2.95 million. It outdrew the No. 2 show in both demos by more than 1 million viewers.

“Zoey” had been a top 10 show in tweens even before Spears’ pregnancy was announced, but no doubt the revelation drew gawkers hoping to see a little bump or any indication of Spears’ condition.

They didn’t find it. The movie, in which Zoey left her California boarding school for London, was filmed months ago.

The movie ended in a cliffhanger over whether Zoey would return to school. The resolution will be provided in season four of the show, set to debut in February. Those episodes were also filmed in advance, meaning Spears won’t look pregnant in them, either.

Initially rumors flew about that Nickelodeon had canceled the show, not wanting the teen’s pregnancy to set a bad example to impressionable young viewers who look up to Spears.

But the network decided to go ahead with the season. There’s been some talk of running a Nick News special about love and sex, hosted by Linda Ellerbee, along with the show’s season premiere, though no official decision has been made.

Spears joined her older sister, Britney, as tabloid fodder when she announced she was carrying boyfriend Casey Aldridge’s baby in the Dec. 18 issue of OK!, a story that reportedly earned the Spears family a $1 million payout from the star-friendly gossip magazine.

It produced the biggest newsstand sell in the publication’s history, moving more than a million copies, and set off a debate over whether it’s proper for an unwed teenage mother to continue starring on a show for youngsters.

Production on a fifth season of “Zoey” has not been greenlit. In fact, it was uncertain if the series would go on even before Spears became pregnant, in part because “Zoey’s” success had led to other offers for the teen star such as a record deal and a part on an ABC pilot. The pregnancy just makes another season even less likely.

Meanwhile, in other younger viewer ratings for the week ending Jan. 6:

Among teens 12-17, NBC led with a 2.0 rating and 7 share, breaking Fox’s long winning streak. Fox finished second at 1.8/6, followed by ABC at 1.5/5, CBS at 1.1/4, the CW at 0.9/3, Univision at 0.7/2, Telemundo at 0.2/1, Telefutura at 0.1/1, and Azteca at 0.0/0.

Among kids 2-11, NBC was first with a 1.4/6, followed by ABC at 1.2/5, Univision at 1.1/4, Fox at 1.0/4, CBS at 0.7/3, the CW at 0.6/2, Telemundo at 0.4/2, Telefutura at 0.2/1 and Azteca at 0.0/0.

The top five shows among kids 2-5: 1. Disney’s “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” (Saturday 9:30 a.m.); 2. Nickelodeon’s “The Backyardigans” (Friday 1 p.m.); 3. Nickelodeon’s “Max & Ruby” (Wednesday 1:30 p.m.); 4. Nickelodeon’s “Dora the Explorer” (Tuesday 10 a.m.); 5. Nickelodeon’s “Dora the Explorer” (Wednesday 10 a.m.)

The top five shows among kids 6-11: 1. Nickelodeon’s “Goodbye, Zoey” (Friday 8 p.m.); 2. Nickelodeon’s “Drake & Josh” (Friday 9 p.m.); 3. Nickelodeon’s “iCarly” (Friday 7:30 p.m.); 4. Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” (Wednesday 6:30 p.m.); 5. Disney’s “Hannah Montana” (Thursday 7 p.m.)

The top five shows among kids 9-14: 1. Nickelodeon’s “Goodbye, Zoey” (Friday 8 p.m.); 2. Nickelodeon’s “Drake & Josh” (Friday 9 p.m.); 3. Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” (Wednesday 6:30 p.m.); 4. Nickelodeon’s “iCarly” (Friday 7:30 p.m.); 5. Disney’s “Hannah Montana” (Wednesday 7 p.m.)

TOP 10 PROGRAMS – BROADCAST & CABLE
Kids 2-5
Week Ended Jan. 6

Program

Net

Rtg%

(000)

1

MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE-01/05/2008

DSNY

6.2

989

2

BACKYARDIGANS, THE-01/04/2008

NICK

6.1

972

3

MAX AND RUBY-01/02/2008

NICK

6

966

4

DORA THE EXPLORER-01/03/2008

NICK

6

954

5

DORA THE EXPLORER-01/02/2008

NICK

5.9

943

6

MAX AND RUBY-01/04/2008

NICK

5.9

942

7

SPONGEBOB-01/02/2008

NICK

5.9

937

8

SPONGEBOB-01/02/2008

NICK

5.8

923

9

SPONGEBOB-01/04/2008

NICK

5.7

918

10

DORA THE EXPLORER-01/04/2008

NICK

5.7

909

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

 

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

Program

Net

Rtg%

(000)

1

ZOEY MOVIE GOODBYE, ZOEY-01/04/2008

NICK

13.5

3272

2

DRAKE & JOSH-01/04/2008

NICK

8.1

1967

3

ICARLY-01/04/2008

NICK

7.5

1816

4

WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE-01/02/2008

DSNY

7.4

1795

5

HANNAH MONTANA-01/03/2008

DSNY

7.1

1728

6

HANNAH MONTANA-01/02/2008

DSNY

6.8

1655

7

ICARLY-01/04/2008

NICK

6.8

1650

8

DRAKE & JOSH-01/04/2008

NICK

6.7

1620

9

WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE-01/02/2008

DSNY

6.6

1608

10

ZOEY MOVIE GOODBYE, ZOEY-01/05/2008

NICK

6.4

1560

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

 

TOP 10 PROGRAMS – CABLE
Kids 9-14
Week Ended Jan. 6

Rank

Program

Net

Rtg%

(000)

1

ZOEY MOVIE GOODBYE, ZOEY-01/04/2008

NICK

12.1

2952

2

DRAKE & JOSH-01/04/2008

NICK

7

1710

3

WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE-01/02/2008

DSNY

6.2

1504

4

ICARLY-01/04/2008

NICK

6.1

1486

5

HANNAH MONTANA-01/02/2008

DSNY

6.1

1481

6

ZOEY MOVIE GOODBYE, ZOEY-01/05/2008

NICK

6

1475

7

HANNAH MONTANA-01/03/2008

DSNY

5.9

1449