Sprout® Hits Record Ratings In 2012

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- 24-hour preschool television channel Sprout is on pace to achieve record ratings for 2012 with an average total day household coverage area 0.23 rating / 122k homes. For the year, Sprout had the highest percentage gain in average total day delivery of total persons across all kids' networks – including Disney Channel, Nick Jr., Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, The Hub, Disney XD and Nicktoons – vs. year ago (+37%) and ranked 6^th among 96 cable networks in percentage gain. Additionally, the network extended its streak to fourteen consecutive months of double-digit percentage growth year-over-year in total day household delivery.

Sprout debuted its first original animated/live action series, The Chica Show, on November 24.  It premiered with Sprout's highest W18-49 delivery for a new program launch in its history.  The Chica Show is averaging a household coverage area 0.29 rating / 153k homes to date and has out-delivered the previous year-to-date time period average across all key demos, most notably women 18-49 (+38%).

"Sprout has achieved consistent and impressive ratings growth this year due in large part to our unique programming strategy and original series like The Chica Show," said Sandy Wax, president and general manager of Sprout.  "Additionally, now that we are part of the NBCUniversal family, we have had a wealth of new opportunities available to us, such as the launch of the NBC Kids block, which extends the exposure and reach of our Sprout brand and our programming to millions of families across the country."

On July 7, NBC launched NBC Kids, a new Saturday morning programming block produced by Sprout, doubling the reach of Sprout's quality preschool programming to an even wider national audience of 110M homes.  Since launch, NBC Kids has ranked #1 among the broadcast kids blocks in households (562k), kids 2-5 (92k) and women 18-49 (134k).  The two highest-rated shows in the NBC Kids block are Sprout originals Noodle and Doodle (862k homes) and Pajanimals (558k homes), which is co-produced with The Jim Henson Company.

About Sprout^®

Sprout is the first 24-hour preschool destination available on TV, on demand and online for children ages 2-5 and their parents and caregivers.  Available in over 50 million homes, the 24-hour digital channel is the only network that follows the day of a preschooler from breakfast to bedtime with its distinctive, interactive programming and original hosted daypart blocks that parents and kids share together.  Viewers are encouraged to submit artwork, birthday wishes, videos and more through SproutOnline.com, which has received over five million viewer interactions to-date.  Sprout's VOD offering is the #1 on demand service for younger children with over one billion views.  Sprout is a top-rated kids' network with consecutive monthly year-over-year double-digit percentage growth for 2012. 

The network's program lineup of gold-standard, curriculum-based preschool series includes originals like The Chica Show, Noodle and Doodle, and Pajanimals (co-produced with The Jim Henson Company), as well as Sesame Street^®, Barney & Friends^™, The Wiggles^®, Caillou^®,  Thomas & Friends^™,  LazyTown^™, and more.  Sprout is a partnership among NBCUniversal, PBS and Apax Funds.  NBCUniversal has the Most Watched Cable Entertainment networks.

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Source: Nielsen Media Research.  All reported data is based on Live+Same Day Playback. Year over year percentage gain ranking is among all 96 cable networks with national Nielsen overnight measurement contracts in 2012 (12/26/11-12/09/12) and 2011 (12/27/10-12/25/11); based on HH AA (000s).  Sprout's 14^th consecutive month of double-digit percentage gains is based on current month vs. same month year ago data for M-Su 6a-6a HH AA (000s) for the period of 11/01/10-12/09/12 in monthly increments. The Chica Show reach is based on a 1-minute qualifier with a custom unification of 75% across all telecasts for 11/24/12-12/09/12. The Chica Show as Sprout's highest launch in delivery of W18-49 is among all new premiere programs that have launched on the network since Nov 2010. The Chica Show's audience gains are vs. pre-launch time period averages for M-Su 1134a-12p & 544p-6p during the period of 12/26/11-11/24/12; NPower Time Period Analysis. NBC Kids 10a-1p comparison is to CBS Cookie Jar's 10a-1p and CW's 7a-12n blocks (7/7/12-12/01/12) excluding preemption weeks for NBC and CBS due to sports coverage.  NBCU Source: Nielsen, Live 7, 12/26/11-11/18/12, Prime/ MSu 8p-11p, adults 18+ Ad-supported Cable Entertainment networks by media company.

SOURCE Sprout