‘Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana’ Becomes Most Watched Scripted Telecast of 2009
Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14 powered the extravaganza event that crossed over stars and storylines from Wizards of Waverly Place, The Suite Life on Deck and Hannah Montana into the most watched scripted telecast of 2009. The 90-minute presentation also became cable’s No. 1 telecast in those same demographics. In fact, only NBC’s “Super Bowl XLIII” coverage beat Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana as the most watched TV telecast among Kids 6-11.
Nickelodeon sent it’s First Night of a Weekend-Long 10th Anniversary Spongebob Celebration (which featured an original episode at 8pm) against the Disney Channel telecast and lost big time. Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana dominated the rival network’s event by more than doubling it in Total Viewers (9.3 million viewers versus 3.6 million) and more than tripling in core kid demographics (Kids 6-11: 3.8 million vs. 1.2 million and Tweens 9-14: 3.7 million vs 982,000).
This crossover greatly improved upon the first crossover, That’s Suite Life of Hannah Montana. There’s still the problem of juggling all the characters of three shows. Mostly the minor characters, such as Harper from Wizards of Waverly Place and Oliver, Rico and Jackson from Hannah Montana, stayed on their shows and didn’t crossover. Actually the Suite Life on Deck characters cross-overed to the other two shows. And my only criticism of the event was it had too much of the Suite Life characters, but as their show’s setting was the crossover’s setting, I guess that makes sense. I just really wanted to see some Miley-Selena screen time.
We’ll review more in-depth this record setting cross over event on a future blog post as well as on a future episode of The Magic Never Ends Podcast. Stay tuned!
And if you haven’t seen 2009′s Most Watched Scripted Telecast, or want to see it again, watch it TONIGHT, Sunday, July 19, at 8pm on the Disney Channel.
Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana Crossover airs THIS Friday at 8pm!
Nine stars from three shows all aboard the S.S. Tipton for crazy Disney Channel fun!
Don’t miss this special event this Friday at 8pm to the Disney Channel.
Disney did a fantastic job with their first crossover event, That’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montana, which brought episodes of the Suite Life of Zack & Cody, That’s So Raven and Hannah Montana together. I’m more excited by this second crossover event. We will get to see great pairings from the various shows, as well as Hannah Montana and London Tipton catching up from the last crossover event. Too bad Ashley Tisdale isn’t on Suite Life on Deck. I enjoyed her character (Maddie Fitzpatrick) sharing screen time with Hannah in That’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montana.
Disney also announced it will release the 90-minute, 3-part event on Disney DVD on September 22, 2009. Special features will include cast bloopers and behind-the-scene footage.
Read the plot for Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana below. Then watch the Disney Channel commercial.
Part 1: “Cast-Away (To Another Show)”
Part 1 is Episode 25 of Season 2 of Wizards of Waverly Place. Justin (David Henrie) is excited to meet London Tipton (Brenda Song) when he wins an essay contest prize: a cruise on the SS Tipton. Alex (Selena Gomez) and Max (Jake T. Austin) join Justin onboard, where Alex bonds with new friend Bailey (Debby Ryan), but soon gets in hot water when she uses magic to bring Harper (Jennifer Stone) aboard. Meanwhile, Max and Zack (Dylan Sprouse) compete in a series of outrageous challenges.
Part 2: “Double-Crossed”
Part 2 is Episode 21 of Season 1 of The Suite Life On Deck. Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) boards the SS Tipton on her way to a concert performance in Honolulu. To impress Bailey, Cody (Cole Sprouse) enlists Woody (Matthew Timmons) to help him get tickets. Meanwhile, the Russos use a little magic to spice up their vacation – Alex pulls a prank on Justin, for which Mr. Moseby (Phill Lewis) blames Zack, while Max introduces London to a magical suitcase.
Part 3: “Super(Stitious) Girl”
Part 3 is Episode 19 of Season 3 of Hannah Montana. While on the ship deck, Miley loses the charm ankle bracelet that her mother gave her and when things start to go wrong, she is sure it’s because she lost her lucky charm also London finds it. Miley as Hannah asks her to give it back but London refuses. Meanwhile, Cody tells Bailey that he has a close friendship with Hannah and promises great seats to her concert but Alex also says she and Bailey can go together.
‘Wizards on Deck With Hannah Montana’ coming July 17
The Disney Channel brings three of its shows together for another Crossover Event!
Last time it was the That’s so Suite Life of Hannah Montana which brought the stars of That’s So Raven, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and Hannah Montana together. Crossovers are very tricky. It’s not always easy to blend different styles together. Inevitably a character or show element is short-changed for the sake of the crossover. The Disney Channel writes masterfully brought together those three shows to form an almost sleemless story. It wasn’t perfect but it made for a great hour and a half event!
I hoped that the That’s so Suite Life of Hannah Montana had reached a level of success for The Disney Channel so they’d bring together three more shows again. I hoped for Hannah, Wizards of Waverly Place, and Sonny With A Chance. Recently, Selena Gomez guest starred brilliantly on Sonny as herself, thus establishing in “the Sonny Universe” that Wizards of Waverly Place is just a TV show. Though I doubt the Disney Channel would hold tight to continuity if it meant preventing them from bringing some of their hit franchises together.
Premiering at 8pm July 17, 2009 on the Disney Channel, the crossover event is called Wizards on Deck With Hannah Montana.
The Celebrity Cafe has a break down on the crossover event as well the contest that is coinciding with the event.
Watch the preview for the Wizards on Deck With Hannah Montana crossover event:
