Cartoon Network Crows About ‘Clone War’ Ratings

by Robert Greenberger on October 9th, 2008 at 12:05 am
Posted In: News

It was about time George Lucas got some good news.  After the critical and commercial drubbing his feature-length Star Wars: The Clone Wars received news that the television series debuted to spectacular numbers must have been most welcome.

A Cartoon Network press release declared, “The new Lucasfilm Animation series scored as the most-watched series premiere in network history, according to preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research. The one-hour new series premiere also reigned as the #1 program from 9-10 p.m. among all major kids networks in kids 6-11, kids 2-11, tweens 9-14, teens 12-7 and persons 2+, earning triple-digit increases compared to the same time period last year. The weekly, CG-animated series also attracted the largest tweens 9-14 audience for any premiere telecast of an original series in Cartoon Network’s 16-year history.”

"This is a great start for our new night of fantasy-action-adventure programming," said Stuart Snyder, president and chief operating officer of Turner Broadcasting’s Animation, Young Adults and Kids Media group. "Kids and their parents made it a point to tune in to the amazing storytelling and brilliant animation of Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars." "We are looking forward to building on this foundation and are thrilled with this turnout and record numbers for Cartoon Network."

The Secret Saturdays also debuted last week and earned 35% more kids 6-11 and 86% more boys 6-11 than programming that appeared in the same time period in 2007.

An animated, comedy-action series created by Jay Stephens, The Secret Saturdays reveals a family of world-saving adventure scientists, Doc, Drew and Zak Saturday. They live in a hidden base and are part of a network of scientists who protect against all the underlying evil in world. To the Saturdays, ordinary folk-tales aren’t just legends, but real-life mysteries and adventures.