Nickelodeon Still Most Popular For Cable Watchers

Sat., Dec. 23, 2000

Steven J. Stark Hollywood Reporter

Nickelodeon will end this year as the most-watched basic cable network, and it will seek to hold that lead by launching four shows in the first quarter of next year.

On average, 1.1 million households have watched Nickelodeon each day this year. By year’s end, the network will have gone 21 straight quarters as the top cable network in total households, beating TBS Superstation, Lifetime Television, Cartoon Network and A&E Network.

This is the ninth straight year Nickelodeon has been tops among “tweens,” defined as ages 9-14.

The ratings also showed that Nickelodeon was No. 1 on Saturdays for the third straight year, with the number of viewers up 10 percent from 1999.

Cyma Zarghami, Nickelodeon’s executive vice president and general manager, said the programs being launched next year will help the network continue its dominance among children.

The first two shows, “Taina” and “Bob the Builder,” debut Jan. 14 and Jan. 15, respectively.

“Taina,” a live-action, music-filled comedy, stars Christina Vidal as a 15-year-old Latina who attends the Manhattan School for the Arts.

Zarghami said the show will appeal to the growing Hispanic market, much the way another Nickelodeon show, “The Brothers Garcia,” did when it launched in the summer.

“Bob the Builder” is an animated Nick Jr. series about a group of friends and machines working together to solve problems.

The other two shows Nickelodeon has planned are “Invader Zim” and “The Fairly Odd Parents,” which mark a return to edgier animation like “Ren & Stimpy.” Both shows debut in March.

“Invader Zim” is about an alien who spies on Earth by attending an elementary school. “The Fairly Odd Parents” is a comedy-fantasy series about 10-year-old Timmy Turner’s fairy godparents, the husband-andwife duo Cosmo and Wanda, who unleash mayhem while granting wishes.

Meanwhile, the eighth-season premiere of “Rugrats” on Jan. 15 will feature two new characters, Kimi and her mother, who were introduced in “Rugrats in Paris: The Movie.” The premiere will be part of a “Rugrats” marathon that day from 2 to 8 p.m.

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