Nick Jr. Rallies Viewers as LazyTown Revs Up Ratings +33%

Nick Jr. Rises +38% from Hit Streak of LazyTown,
Dora andMiss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends

Television’s Premiere Preschool Block Readies The Backyardigans
for Monday, Oct. 11, at 11 a.m. (ET/PT)

New York, New York--Sept. 20, 2004--Nick Jr.’s hot Icelandic import, LazyTown, has been up and active in the ratings launch to date, raising viewing levels double digits across multiple demos in the month since its Aug. 16 bow: ratings among its target preschool kids 2-5 are up +33%; kids 2-11 are up +39%; and total viewers are up +29%. LazyTown has ranked as the number-one preschool show on commercial television since launch, currently tied with Dora the Explorer (up +43% since 8/16). Nick Jr.’s overall ratings are also on the rise, up +38% with both kids 2-5 (6.6/829,000 K2-5) and total viewers (1.9 million P2+) due to strong gains from LazyTown, Dora and the just-added Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends.

For LazyTown’s 10:30 a.m. (all times ET/PT) airings, the show is averaging to date a 7.6/962,000 kids 2-5, up +33% over last year. With kids 2-11 demo, the show is posting a 4.3/1.4 million, up +39% in rating over last year. Among total viewers, LazyTown is delivering an average 2.1 million persons 2+, +31% more than prior-year levels.

In addition to airing weekdays during Nick Jr., LazyTown made its broadcast television debut Sept. 18 when the show joined the new Nick on CBS Saturday morning line-up. A mix of live action, puppets and CGI animation, LazyTown is dedicated to making physical activity and healthy lifestyles for kids entertaining.  Shot in Iceland with an international cast and crew, the show was created in Iceland by professional athlete and aerobic champion Magnus Scheving, LazyTown is set in a strange and wonderful village where eight-year-old Stephanie (Julianna Rose Mauriello) and her friends are caught between a charismatic, health-conscious superhero named Sportacus (Scheving) and lazy, junk-food-eating bad guy Robbie Rotten.

Two-time European Champion and silver medalist in the World Championship of Aerobics, Scheving is a world-class athlete, entertainer and writer in his native Iceland.  During his travels around the world lecturing on health and fitness, parents always asked Scheving about exercise and nutrition for children. As a response, he created LazyTown in 1991 with the book “Go, Go Lazy Town!” and the property has since been built into a household name in Iceland with businesses including publishing, live theatrical performances and a radio station. 

Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends—Premiere up +19%:

Nick Jr.’s second launch in a month, Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends, was the highest rated Nick Jr. new series premiere in three years, raising ratings +19% with preschoolers. For its Sept. 7 debut, the show averaged a 7.9/983,000 among kids 2-5, up +19% over last year. With kids 2-11, it posted a 4.2/1.4 million, up +35% over last year; and with total viewers, the show has averaged 2 million persons 2+, up +33% over last year.

Based on David Kirk’s best-selling book series, Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends features Emmy-nominated actress Kristin Davis as the voice of “Miss Spider,” the loving, heroic mother