BURBANK – MARCH 13, 2008 – “The Spectacular Spider-Man” swung to new heights for Kids’ WB! on The CW for Saturday, March 8, scoring season high household numbers in its timeslots and raising ratings by significant percentages during the series’ premiere weekend for the No. 1 rated broadcast network kids lineup, according to Nielsen Research Media.
“It’s gratifying to see that viewers have gravitated to an outstanding series that exemplifies what Kids’ WB! strives to give its audience: an engaging hero, great villains, amazing action and timely humor,” said Betsy McGowen, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Kids’ WB!
The premiere of “The Spectacular Spider-Man” helped the Kids’ WB! Saturday morning lineup tally its highest household rating (1.1/3) of the 2007-2008 season, and pushed all of the network’s key demographic ratings to their highest marks in the 2008 calendar year. Kids’ WB! launched the series with back-to-back episodes – “Survival of the Fittest” at 10:00 a.m. ET/PT and “Interactions” at 10:30 a.m. ET/PT.
According to Nielsen Research Media, the premiere episode of “The Spectacular Spider-Man” (“Survival of the Fittest” – 10:00 a.m.) registered a 1.2/3 household rating – the top mark for Kids’ WB! in the 10:00 a.m. time slot during the 2007-2008 season, and representative of a 20 percent gain over the equivalent week last year. The episode’s 1.4/5 mark in the key Kids 2-11 demographic eclipsed last week’s time slot ratings by 25 percent.
The numbers held and improved for the second episode (“Interactions” – 10:30 a.m.), also scoring the top household rating (1.4/4) for the 2007-2008 season in the 10:30 a.m. time slot, and leading its broadcast network kids competition in all boys demographics as well as the Kids 2-11 and Kids 9-14 segments. The 10:30 a.m. episode also registered significant percentage increases in the demographics for Kids 2-11 (75 percent above last week), Boys 2-11 (60 percent higher than last week) and Kids 2-5 (200 percent over last week), the latter also tying the network time slot’s highest rating for the season. The network’s 6-11 demographics for the time slot were elevated week-to-week in Kids 6-11 (50 percent gain), Boys 6-11 (14 percent gain) and Girls 6-11 (300 percent), and the Kids 9-14 (1.4/6) and Boys 9-14 (2.0/9) ratings were the highest of the season.
The series picks up the original web-slinger’s mythology at the beginning of his hero’s journey as a not-so-typical 16-year-old. Peter Parker must conceal his secret identity and confront the
multi-leveled pressures of teenage life at home and school, while combating more menacing super villains than ever before. Producer/story editor Greg Weisman and producer/supervising director Vic Cook developed the series for television. Based on Marvel Entertainment’s popular super hero, The Spectacular Spider-Man is produced by Culver Entertainment, a Sony Pictures Television Company.
The Lizard makes his first villainous appearance in the all-new episode this Saturday, March 15 at 10:00 a.m. ET/PT on Kids’ WB! on The CW. In the episode, entitled “Natural Selection,” Peter Parker and Spider-Man both must learn to own their choices when decisions made by Dr. Curt Connors transform Pete’s mentor into the Lizard. Popular animation and video game voiceover actor Dee Bradley Baker (“SpongeBob SquarePants,” “The Fairly Oddparents”) provides the voice of Curt Connors/The Lizard. The episode is written by Matt Wayne and directed by David Bullock.
Spectacular Spiderman Rocks! The story, the artwork, music, voices, all honor the Spidey tradition and build upon it! Vic Cook has outdone himself here!