Nickelodeon's July 21 Rugrats 10th anniversary special set
an all-time ratings record for the network and topped the weekly basic-cable
ratings race for the week of July 16 through 21.
Among cable households, Rugrats'All Growed Up posted a 7.2
rating, besting the 6.4 generated by a January 1999 Rugrats show,
according to a Nick analysis of Nielsen Media Research data.
The one-hour special also stands as the No. 2-rated basic-cable program for
the year, second only to Turner Network Television movie Louis L'Amour's
Crossfire Trail, which posted a 9.6 rating -- the highest-rated movie in
basic-cable history.
The special, which featured Rugrats' popular baby characters as
'tweens,' also pulled a huge kids' audience for Nickelodeon. The show averaged a
20.4 rating among kids two through 11 and a 23.4 rating for tweens nine through
14, according to Nick.
The special even drew a significant 5.8 rating among adults 18 through 49,
topping all broadcast- and cable-network competition for the time period.
All Growed Up was also the highest-rated cable program of the week, one
of five Nickelodeon programs to finish in the top 10. A July 22 repeat of the
Rugrats special finished sixth for the week with a 4.8 rating, according
to a Turner Entertainment Research analysis of Nielsen data.
Also finishing in the top 10 rankings were two airings of a half-hour
Rugrats behind-the-scenes special. The special's July 21 airing finished
fifth with a 5.1 rating, while a next-day repeat bowed at No. 10 with a 3.3.
Another Nick animated series, Fairly Odd Parents, bowed at No. 9 with a
3.4.
TNN: The National Network's War Zone and Raw Is War World
Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. shows finished second and seventh,
respectively, with 5.6 and 4.5 ratings.
Turner Network Television's coverage of the National Association for Stock
Car Auto Racing's New England 300 race finished third with a 5.2 rating, tying
with a repeat airing of Lifetime Television's original movie, Dangerous
Child.
An eighth-place finish for the second part of TNT's original movie, Mists
of Avalon (4.0 rating), rounded out the top 10.
Nickelodeon finished atop both the primetime and total-day network ratings
rankings for the week. Nick's 2.3 primetime rating bested Lifetime's 2.2, USA
Network's 1.9, TNT's 1.8 and Cartoon Network's 1.7.
Lifetime's 1.3 total-day rating also finished second to Nickelodeon, which
averaged a 1.7. Rounding out the top five were Cartoon (1.3), TBS Superstation
(1.0) and TNT (1.0).
