February 9, 2009

Ratings Highlights for Sunday, February 8, 2009

Final and Preliminary Ratings

Disney Channel Original Series “Sonny With a Chance” Shines in Premiere

Launching with back-to-back episodes in Sunday’s 8 p.m. hour, the series debut of Disney Channel original series “Sonny With a Chance,” starring “Camp Rock’s” Demi Lovato, bested the competition, ranking as Sunday’s Top 2 TV telecasts in Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14, and as cable’s most-watched in Total Viewers.   For the week of February 2, “Sonny With a Chance” qualified as TV’s No. 1 program in Kids 6-11 (1.8 million/7.4 rating) and TV’s No. 1 scripted series in Tweens 9-14 (1.6 million/6.4 rating).

• At 8 o’clock, “Sonny With a Chance” generated a dominant win across key demos in its opener, overshadowing runners-up USA by more than 1.0 million Total Viewers, or by 37% (4.1 million vs. 3.0 million), and Nick by 64% in Kids 6-11 (1.8 million vs. 1.1 million) and by 67% in Tweens 9-14 (1.5 million vs. 903,000).

• Impressively, at 8:30 p.m., “Sonny With a Chance” led its time period, improved on its debut by 7% in Tweens 9-14 (1.6 million vs. 1.5 million) and retained 100% in Kids 6-11 (1.8 million), towering over second-place The Cartoon Network by 90% and 80%, respectively. In Total Viewers, retention between the two telecasts was an equally impressive 98% (4.0 million vs. 4.1 million).

• Registering the Disney Channel’s best ratings in Sunday’s 8 o’clock hour in almost three months, since the week of 11/23/08, “Sonny With a Chance” towered over year-ago time period levels (2/10/08) by double-digit percentages, increasing by 48% in Total Viewers (4.0 million vs. 2.7 million), by 50% in Kids 6-11 (1.8 million vs. 1.2 million) and by 75% in Tweens 9-14 (1.6 million vs. 916,000).

• For the week, Disney Channel was cable’s No. 1 network for the 201st straight week in Kids 6-11 (3.6 rating/872,000), and for the 197th week running in Tweens 9-14 (3.0 rating/729,000).

(Source: Nielsen Media Research (Live + Same Day: Final Ratings, Sunday, 2/8/09 and Week of 2/2-2/8/09). Ratings based on national rating unless otherwise noted.