Nickelodeon likes its Rugrats better as preteens than as babies, as
Rugrats special All Growed Up buoyed the kids' net to the top spot
in July in daytime ratings and the second spot in primetime.
The 10th anniversary special earned a 7.2 rating (5.85 million
viewers), making it the month's highest-rated program, according to a Turner Entertainment Research analysis of Nielsen Media Research's July cable ratings.
Lifetime Television held onto the top spot in primetime, notching a 2.1, up
24 percent from June 2000. Television for Women continues its rise with its
10th consecutive month of ratings growth.
Lifetime's highest-rated program in July was original movie Dangerous
Child, starring Delta Burke, which earned a 5.2. The network's Sunday-night
original dramas also provided strong ratings support -- Any Day Now is
averaging a 2.6 rating, while Strong Medicine and The Division are
each running a 2.5.
USA Network saw its primetime ratings slip from a 1.9 in June (good enough to
tie Lifetime for the top spot) to a 1.7 in July. USA's ratings are off 23
percent from last July, when the net garnered a 2.2, the highest rating for that
month. A&E Network and ESPN both saw their ratings drop 20% compared with
last July.
Conversely, Fox News Channel has doubled its ratings since last July, growing
from a 0.4 in July 2000 to a 0.8 (532,000 viewers) last month. The upstart news
channel posted a 0.8 primetime rating, besting Cable News Network (0.7, 580,000)
and MSNBC (0.4, 247,000).
MSNBC's signature newscast, The News with Brian Williams, saw its
ratings suffer in July after moving the newscast up to 8 p.m. from 9 p.m. The
News averaged a 0.3 (201,000 viewers) in July compared with a 0.4 (233,000
viewers) last June. 'It's a growing pain to have the audiences adjust,' an MSNBC
spokesman said.
Travel Channel and TNN: The National Network both tallied strong growth since
last July. Travel's total-day ratings rose 100 percent from a 0.1 (60,000) to a
0.2 (104,000), and 33 percent in primetime from a 0.3 (128,000) to a 0.4
(252,000).
Bolstered by strong World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. ratings,
TNN: The National Network's primetime ratings climbed 67 percent from a 0.6
(444,000) to a 1.0 (811,000).
