EDITION: U.S.
11.4 million
The Wizards of Waverly Place movie casts the biggest ratings spell of the year
by Jason Hughes, posted Aug 30th 2009 5:03PM
If Disney was still not sure what their next super-series was going to be once Hannah Montana goes to bed after next season, they know now. The Wizards of Waverly Place movie just nailed down the highest cable ratings of the year. This in a summer full of ratings records on cable. Only High School Musical 2 has bested it on Disney, and we know what a phenomenon that franchise became.Even more outstanding, the movie stands a decent chance of being the highest rated show on television this past week, including the broadcast networks. Tuesday's America's Got Talent, the summer leader, had 11.2 million viewers per the overnight ratings. Wizards of Waverly Place got 11.4 million.
Maybe it's time to combine the viewership numbers for cable shows and the broadcast networks. I think the cable channels have proven they can compete with select shows, so why not show it? While there are comprehensive, albeit flawed, ratings numbers from Nielsen for the broadcast networks, the consumer gets far less information about cable ratings. It's all television, right?
TV Squad Hot Topics
Most Popular Articles
From Our Partners
- 'Game of Thrones': 'Blackwater' will blow your mind
- 'Mad Men' Season 5 - 'The Other Woman': Peggy and Joan get offers they can't refuse
- 'Girls': It might have been the crack
- 'American Idol' to 'The Vampire Diaries': The top-rated TV shows on each network for 2011-12
- 'Fifty Shades of Grey' on 'Food Network Star' Giada De Laurentiis' summer reading list
- More From Zap2it
- The Idol (Less) Rich: For Jessica Sanchez, No Guaranteed Album Deal, Likely Smaller Payday
- What to Watch: The TVLine-Up for Sunday
- Eye on Emmy: Homeland's Damian Lewis Talks About Playing No Ordinary Anti-Hero
- New Spoiler Alert!: Revenge Death(s)! Smash Bloodbath! Grey's Anatomy's Sad Farewell!
- Eye on Emmy: The Good Wife's Josh Charles Hails Breakup Ep, Singles Out Show's Unsung Heroes
- More From TVLine
- TV Review: Hatfields & McCoys Turns the Macho Code Inside Out
- Michael Haneke's Amour Wins Cannes' Palme d'Or
- Listen to the Winning Song From Eurovision 2012
- Robert Pattinson Is Not Playing Finnick in The Hunger Games Sequel
- Sunday Reads: Jonathan Franzen, D'Angelo, and Moonrise Kingdom Prep
- More from Vulture
