With a fresh installment of iCarly providing a host of viewer records as a lead-in, Big Time Rush became the highest-rated and most-watched live-action Nick series premiere.
The Jan. 18 iCarly episode, entitled "iCarly's iSaved Your Life," drew 11.2 million viewers in the 8 p.m. half-hour, the most in the show's history, according to Nielsen data. That performance surpassed the 8.9 million who watched the "‘iQuit" episode on Dec. 5, 2009.
Monday's airing also set marks for iCarly, which stars Miranda Cosgrove, among kids 2 to 11 (16.0 rating, 5.7 million of those viewers), kids 6 to 11 (21.8 rating, 4.7 million) and tweens 9 to 14 (20.9/4.5 million).
All of which set the stage Nick's new series to come out of the blocks with a big-time Nielsen rush. Debuting at 8:30 p.m., Big Time Rush averaged 6.8 million watchers, the most ever for the start of a live-action show on the network.
Included in that total were a 10.7 rating against kids 2 to 11, translating into 3.8 million of those watchers; a 14.5 rating/3.1 million kids 6 to 11; and a 13.1/2.8 million tweens, according to Nielsen data.
The new live-action, scripted comedy series -- which tracks the journey of four best friends who get a chance to be part of the glamorous L.A. pop music scene -- marks Nickelodeon's second TV collaboration with Columbia/Epic Label Group. The series follows Kendall (Kendall Schmidt, AI, Gilmore Girls), James (James Maslow, iCarly), Logan (Logan Henderson, Friday Night Lights) and Carlos (Carlos Pena, Ned's DeClassified School Survival Guide).
The series will move to its regular time slot on Fridays at 8:30 p.m., beginning Jan. 22.
