Nickelodeon draws nearly four million viewers to Sanjay and Craig animated series debut.
NEW YORK --
Nickelodeon’s new animated series Sanjay and Craig tallied 3.6 million total viewers for its Saturday, May 24, premiere, driving double-digit gains with kids 2-11 and kids 6-11 and ranking as the number-two kids’ program on all TV for the week—second only to top-ranked SpongeBob SquarePants. Sanjay and Craig, which follows the adventures of a 12-year-old boy and his best friend—a talking snake—earned a 6.0/2.0 million kids 2-11 (up +22% over last year) and a 6.4/1.3 million kids 6-11 (up +31). SpongeBob SquarePants was number one with kids 2-11 (6.9/2.3 million, up +33%) and kids 6-11 (6.8/1.3 million, up +36%) for the week, as well as being the month’s overall top animated program among kids across all TV.
As it did in April, Nickelodeon finished first in May as basic cable's number-one network in total day. For May, the net was also first with kids 2-11 (2.6/866,000, +10%) and total viewers (1.6 MM, +6%) in total day. Additionally, Nickelodeon’s preschool block (M-F 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. ET/PT) topped with kids 2-5 (4.3/579,000, +10%). This performance also marks the network’s 18th straight week of year-over-year growth.
Sanjay and Craig, produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studios, follows the adventures of Sanjay, an excitable and irreverent 12-year-old boy (Maulik Pancholy, 30 Rock) and Craig, a smooth-talking snake and master of disguise (Chris Hardwick, Nerdist, The Talking Dead). Together, they embark on epic kid-inspired quests that are at times totally ridiculous, absolutely gross and weirdly sweet. The only thing that stands in their way is their unhinged, snake-phobic neighbor, Mr. Noodman (Tony Hale, Arrested Development), who’s always on the verge of figuring out that Craig can talk. Additional voice actors include Linda Cardellini (Freaks and Geeks) as Megan; Matt Jones (Breaking Bad) as Hector and Kunal Nayyar (The Big Bang Theory) as Vijay. The series joins Nickelodeon’s hit Saturday morning animation lineup, airing regularly at 10:30 a.m. ET/PT.
Source: Nickelodeon
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
