Nickelodeon Scores Record-Breaking Night with Brand-New iCarly and Big Time Rush Debut

NEW YORK, Jan. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Nickelodeon scored two ratings records Monday night with the debut of Big Time Rush and a brand-new episode of iCarly -- which currently ranks as the number-one series on all of television with kids 2-11.

Big Time Rush hit a high note with its debut (Monday, Jan. 18, 8:30 p.m. ET/PT), setting a new record for a Nick series as the highest-rated and most-watched live-action premiere with kids, tweens and total viewers (6.8 million).  iCarly's "iSaved Your Life" (Monday, Jan. 18, 8 p.m. ET/PT), marks the series' highest-rated and most-watched telecast ever with kids 2-11, kids 6-11, tweens 9-14 and total viewers (11.2 million) (Beating the previous iCarly record of 8.9 million total viewers held by "iQuit" [12/5/09]).

Additional ratings highlights include:

• The Big Time Rush debut scored double- and triple-digit gains over last year, averaging 13.1/2.8 million T9-14 (+105%); 14.5/3.1 million K6-11 (+93%) and 10.7/3.8 million K2-11 (+60%).

• "iSaved Your Life" set new records with total viewers, kids 2-1l, kids 6-11 and tweens 9-14 as the highest-rated and most-watched iCarly telecast ever among those demos.

• "iSaved Your Life" posted triple-digit gains over last year's like time period averaging 21.8/4.7 million K6-11 (+211%); 20.9/4.5 million T9-14 (+264%) and  16.0/5.7 million K2-11 (+144%).

The new live-action, scripted comedy series -- which chronicles the journey of four best friends who get a chance to be part of the glamorous L.A. pop music scene -- marks Nickelodeon's second television collaboration with Columbia/Epic Label Group.  The series follows Kendall (Kendall Schmidt, AI, Gilmore Girls), James (James Maslow, iCarly), Logan (Logan Henderson, Friday Night Lights) and Carlos (Carlos Pena, Ned's DeClassified School Survival Guide). The series will move to its regular timeslot of Fridays at 8:30 p.m. (ET/PT), beginning January 22.

Nickelodeon, now in its 30th 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 almost 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 15 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).

SOURCE Nickelodeon