'Kids' Starts Strong on NBC

NBC's Saturday-morning "Discovery Kids on NBC" — the last of the broadcast-television networks to premiere its kids' shows — got off to a strong ratings start.

According to Nielsen Media Research, NBC and Discovery Networks U.S. said the kids' block averaged a 0.5 rating among children aged 6 through 11, soaring 67 percent Oct. 6 versus a year ago, when Discovery was not involved in programming or ad sales for that block.

NBC called that premiere performance "solid."

The networks also reported that NBC averaged a 0.6 rating among kids 2 through 11, up 100 percent from last fall, and that NBC posted a 1.5 Nielsen household rating to rank third in the Saturday-morning kids' race — behind Kids WB and Nickelodeon, but ahead of CBS, Fox, Toon Disney and ABC Family.

Discovery Kids on NBC consists of six new series, including adaptations of Discovery Networks fare as Croc Files
(inspired by Animal Planet's Crocodile Hunter), Prehistoric Planet
(inspired by Discovery Channel's Walking with Dinosaurs) and Operation Junkyard

(based on The Learning Channel's Junkyard Wars).

Croc Files
scored a 0.6 among kids 6 through 11, versus Operation Junkyard's
0.4 and Prehistoric Planet's
0.2.