Nickelodeon's Merry Christmas Drake & Josh Ranks as Week's Top Cable Entertainment Program with 8.1 Million Total Viewers, Number-One TV Telecast with Kids and Tweens

Nickelodeon's Merry Christmas Drake & Josh Ranks as Week's Top Cable Entertainment Program with 8.1 Million Total Viewers, Number-One TV Telecast with Kids and Tweens

Drake & Josh Movie Ranks Among Top Three Entertainment Cable Telecasts Year-to-Date and Nick's Most-Watched Live-Action TV Movie Ever

NEW YORK, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Nickelodeon's original TV movie Merry Christmas Drake & Josh which aired Friday, Dec. 5, 8-10 p.m. (ET/PT) drew 8.1 million total viewers (P2+) in its premiere, ranking as the week's (12/1/08-12/7/08) number-one entertainment cable program, and earning the number-one spot on all of broadcast and cable TV for the week with kids and tweens. The primetime two-hour movie ranks as the most-watched live-action television movie with kids 2-11 and total viewers in Nickelodeon's history, delivering triple-digit gains over last year. The telecast also ranks as the overall number-three entertainment telecast with total viewers on cable for 2008 to date (based on NMR: live + same day delivery).

Highlights include:
-- The TV movie was the week's number-one entertainment program on cable
with 8.1 million total viewers (up +402% in delivery).

-- Merry Christmas Drake & Josh, was broadcast and cable TV's number-one
show for the week (12/1/08-12/7/08) with kids and tweens, averaging a
12.2/4.3 million K2-11 (up +369% in rating over last year's like time
period); a 16.0/3.4 million K6-11 (up +433%); and a 13.3/2.9 million
T9-14 (up +432%).

-- The primetime TV movie ranks as the number-three entertainment
telecast with total viewers on cable for the year-to-date (based on
NMR: live + same day delivery).

-- Merry Christmas Drake & Josh is the most-watched live-action
television movie with K2-11 and total viewers in Nickelodeon's
history.

-- A Drake and Josh holiday-themed Game of the Week, "Drake and Josh:
Best Christmas Ever", generated 1.1 million game plays since its Nov.
27 launch and ranked as the number-one game on Nick.com in it's first
week (source: Omniture SiteCatalyst V. 13.5).

-- Merry Christmas Drake & Josh content on TurboNick -- Nickelodeon's
broadband video service -- accounted for almost 70% of streams for the
week of Dec. 1-7, generating more than 4.5 million streams since
launching on Oct. 1.

Merry Christmas Drake & Josh delivers a high-stakes comic adventure for the holiday season and features guest-stars Henry Winkler and MMA fighter Kimbo Slice who help Drake and Josh keep their Christmas promise to a family of foster kids. The brand-new, two-hour original television movie reunites the whole Drake & Josh cast of regulars -- including Drake Bell; Josh Peck; tween queen Miranda Cosgrove and Jerry Trainor, stars of Nickelodeon's iCarly.

Nickelodeon, now in its 29th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 96 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than 14 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B).

Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Joanna Roses, +1-212-846-7326, or Thamar Romero,
+1-212-846-7491, both of Nickelodeon

Web Site: http://www.nick.com/

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