Nickandmore!

via Nickelodeon press release:

Kids Pick Nick on Saturday Morning; SpongeBob Saturates Top Spots

Nick Notches +20% Gain Over Last Year, While New ‘Nick on CBS’ Block Bows to +17% Increase

New York, NY—Sept. 19, 2002—With this past Saturday, Sept. 14, marking the start of the new 2002-03 kids’ season, Nickelodeon won the daypart against all broadcast and basic-cable competition among kids 2-11 and 6-11, increasing its overall kid 2-11 performance by +20% over last year. For Sept. 14, from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. (all times ET/PT), Nick earned a 5.2/21 national rating and share (2.1 million average kid viewers) among kids 2-11, led by the highest-rated kids show on any network, SpongeBob SquarePants.

SpongeBob SquarePants secured the top two slots on Saturday morning, averaging a 6.6/24 national rating and share (2.6 million average viewers) for the number-one slot (9:30 a.m.), and averaging a 6.2/23 national rating and share (2.5 million average viewers) for number two (9 a.m). Overall, Nick scored four of the top five Saturday-morning shows with kids 2-11. Additionally, among kids 6-11, Nick was number one with a 5.7/23 national rating and share (1.4 million average kid viewers), up +23% over last year.

Sept. 14 also marked the premiere of ‘Nick on CBS,’ which now includes signature Nick hits like Hey Arnold! and The Wild Thornberrys,’ along with returning Nick Jr. faves Dora the Explorer and Blue’s Clues. With kids 2-11, the CBS block lifted its prior-year average by +17%, averaging a 2.0/8 rating and share (793,000 average kid viewers) and beating by +18% the premiere of the new FOX block, FOX BOX (1.7/7 national rating and share [663,000 average kid viewers]).

Nickelodeon, now in its 23^rd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 86 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than six consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

Note: All year-ago comparisons are versus Saturday 9/22/01, as the previous week’s programming last year was pre-empted by broadcast-network news coverage.