iCary is clearly this year's (2009) big kids' TV show winner! It ended the 2nd quarter of this year (2009) as the top program on all of broadcast TV and cable for children between the ages of 6 to ll and 9 to 14. iCarly also obatined cable TV's top rated program for total viewers regardless of age. It reached the pinnacle of acclaim when it topped Miley Cyrus' Hannah Montana show with the tween market!



According to an Indian newspaper article ”After Miley Cyrus' provocative pictures were posted on Twitter by her film producer, her status as the teen queen of US has been seriously threatened.” We feel that this had little to do with iCarly's ascent to the top. The producers and creators of the show understand their viewers and the digital new media better than anyone else at this time. Producer Dan Schneider has created a significant twitter presence with his danwarp persona. He posts tips, news and insider photos and videos of iCarly's backstage constantly. This has lead to a dedicated and in-touch band of iCarly devotees.

According to a recent LA Times article, “A war is brewing between Nickelodeon (Nick) and Disney Channel – and their press departments! — over who is more popular with young viewers: “iCarly's” Carly Shay or Hannah Montana?” We've got news for Disney, it is iCarly!

iCarly's latest episodic special, “iFight Shelby Marx”, drew a record amount of viewers for the comedy with 7.9 million watching it's release on August 8th. Nick being proud of its accomplishment, promoted a press release touting the show's success by getting right to the point of bragging about the movie “iFight Shelby Marx” topping its major rival's, the Disney Channel's, program offerings. One of which was the final episode in Disney's “Wizards of Waverly Place Wizards & Vampires vs. Zombies”. A major push from Disney to promote the series. Disney then responded that iCarly still didn't have the number 1 ranked cable TV episode, which was its crossover episode of “Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana”. Nick shot back with another press release stating that iCarly is television's No. 1 series among kids 2-11 and kids 6-11. That is for all TV, not just cable.

Disney had better figure out that they are not going to win this war with clever press releases. They have lost their edge. The creators of iCarly have a much better grasp on reaching their audience, and Disney is lagging far behind. Their much ballyhooed show, The Jonas Brothers, has been losing viewers and dropping in the ratings. The dominance also shows on the popularity between the Disney and Nickelodeon web sites. Nick sites are much more interactive and engaging with kids.

We know this is not the end of this battle between Nick and Disney, but for now, Disney is defintiely losing. iCarly and Nickelodeon are putting it to Disney. The Disney execs will need to pay more attention to digitally branding and engaging their viewers if they want to step back into theis war with a chance at succeeding.