With the National Football League taking Sunday night off on ESPN in deference to the World Series, kids’ network pushed their way to the top of the primetime-ratings heap last week.
Disney Channel finished first with a 2.0 household average, edging out the 1.9 recorded by Nickelodeon from Oct. 13-20, according to an ABC Cable Networks Group analysis of Nielsen Media Research data.
USA Network, boosted by the premiere of its original telefilm, D.C. Sniper: 23 Days of Fear
-- the medium’s highest-rated movie of the week recorded a 3.0 Oct. 17 -- was tied with Turner Network Television for third with a 1.7 average.
The "drama" network’s original-film entry, Wilder Days
, the second installment under the "Johnson & Johnson Spotlight Presentation" imprimatur, earned just a 1.6 during its Oct. 19 debut.
Cartoon Network was fifth with a 1.6, ahead of the 1.5 recorded by Lifetime Television. TBS Superstation (1.4.), ESPN (1.2) and The Learning Channel (1.0) were seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively. Fox News Channel, MTV: Music Television, Discovery Channel, Sci Fi Channel, Spike TV, A&E Network and Home & Garden Television all shared the 10th
spot with a 0.9 average for the week.
For HGTV, the primetime performance was the best in the network’s history and up 44% from the corresponding week the prior year, according to HGTV officials.
If Disney reigned in primetime, Nick took total day, averaging a 1.5, 0.3 points higher than its kids’ rival. TNT and Cartoon were next, each with a 1.1, while Lifetime was fifth with a 1.0, according to the ABC Cable Networks analysis.
As for individual shows, Spike’s presentation of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.’s WWERaw
pinned first for the week with a 3.8 from 10 p.m.-11:07 p.m. Oct. 13, while its previous hour that night was tied for seventh overall with a 3.3.
The big show last week, though, was Disney’s Lilo & Stitch: The Series
. Episodes as part of a marathon Oct. 13 claimed seven of the 21 highest-rated shows for the week, topped by a 3.5 (second overall) from 7:30 p.m.-8 p.m.
Disney’s primetime position was lifted by theatrical George of the Jungle
, which roped a 3.2 Oct. 19, while its original, Halloweentown II: Kalabar
, was tied for 14th,
earning a 3.1 Oct. 13.
Installments of Nick’s Fairly OddParents
, SpongeBob SquarePants
and Jimmy Neutron
combined to grab eight of the top 21 shows last week, including Nos. 3 and 4.
From a nonanimated perspective, FX’s Nip/Tuck
(the first season’s penultimate episode Oct. 14 earned a 3.0, good for a tie for 17th
) and MTV’s reality hit, Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica
(a 2.9 that night, good for a piece of 19th
place), were the week’s highest-rated series fare.
