Nick’s iCarly Draws Kids to TV, Web

By R. Thomas Umstead
published

The Sept. 8 debut of Nickelodeon’s new tween-targeted series iCarly turned into a multi-platform draw for the kids network.

The 8 p.m. premiere episode of the series, starring Miranda Cosgrove (Jake and Josh) as the host of her own online show, averaged 3.5 million viewers for its premiere episode. A second iCarly episode airing 30 minutes later drew 3.7 million viewers, according to the network.

Overall iCarly episodes drew a cumulative 13 million viewers over the course of the weekend of Sept. 8-9, according to Nickelodeon. 

The series, which mixes user-generated content into the storyline, proved to be an online hit as well. Kids submitted almost 2,200 photos and uploaded more than 2,000 videos over the two day weekend (Sept. 8-9) to the on iCarly.com website.

On Nickelodeon’s broadband video player TurboNick, iCarly videos drew 721,000 streams over the show’s debut weekend. Nick.com’s Carly “Webisode Wardrobe” game, which debuted Sept. 6, ended up as the number-one game for the week with 575,000 game plays, according to the network. 

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.