The New Season: 'High School' ratings make it most likely to succeed

Looks as if a lot of people couldn't wait to get back to high school.

Friday's premiere of "High School Musical 2" on the Disney Channel smashed ratings records, with a total audience of 17.2 million, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. That makes the bubblegum-pop extravaganza the most-watched basic cable telecast of all time, and it also more than doubles the tally for the original "HSM," which became a surprise hit last year (7.7 million). The sequel did especially well among viewers who are far too young for the prom: Disney officials bragged that "HSM2" was the most-watched show in TV history among kids ages 6 to 11.

The results bode well for Disney's plans to turn "HSM" into the company's latest monster franchise. Also sure to be taking notice are executives at rival networks. Broadcasters have pursued a strategy of reruns and reality series this summer, only to watch millions of viewers defect to basic cable.

-- Scott Collins

Comments

[Donna]

High School Musical might've been watched by the younger audience but I'll bet they don't know how many of us in our 30's and 40's loved it!! I'm a wicked fan.. 49 yrs. old never wanted to grow up and I absolutely loved both films. :)

[Russell Miller]

I have to hand it to Disney. They really know how to hype something. I mean really, really hype something. They're been announcing this for months. They do this with all of their original content. They hype it for weeks until they've worked the kids into a frenzy, and then they play it about three thousand times until everyone's gotten utterly sick of it... then they move on to the next thing and run that into the ground. The sad part is that it seems to work.

Frankly, I think the fact that this particular movie was so highly rated speaks pretty badly of parents all across the country. Don't those kids have better things to do on a Friday night than to sit there and watch a movie of mediocre quality that they really only are watching because Disney has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars convincing kids that it's something to see?

The really sad thing is, I was parked over on 24th and ocean park at about 6 pm on Friday night, and as I was getting into my car to leave, I heard someone in one of the houses yelling quite clearly about "High School Musical!".

Disney does a really good job at what they do, but I'm thinking more and more that it is not in anyone's real best interest but theirs.

[Sandy]

Well, gosh and golly. I think the music and the dancing was a lot of fun and I'm definitely older than 30! Hype or no hype, I like that the Disney Channel movies and shows are fun family viewing.