New episode and movie drew the kids in droves

The premiere of the newest "SpongeBob SquarePants" episode went swimmingly for Nickelodeon on Friday, Nov. 10.

The episode titled "The Best Day Ever," averaging 6.7 million total viewers, followed by network premiere of "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie," drawing more than 7 million, gave the network its most-watched, highest-rated day ever.

"The Best Day Ever" did well with kids 2-11 (4.0 million) and 6-11 (2.6 million), while the film drew 4.4 million and 2.9 million, in those demos respectively.

The one-two punch capped a 24-hour marathon of "SpongeBob" that began Thursday, Nov. 9 featuring the Top 100 cartoon picks, selected by fans online by viewing clips. The site received almost 5 million streams and 3.2 million votes. All told, Friday averaged a total of 4.4 million total viewers, averaging 2.5 million kids 2-11 (a network high) and 1.5 million kids 6-11.

The marathon also increased ratings for Nick at Nite among kids 2-11 (204 percent) and kids 6-11 (188 percent). An average of 3.2 million viewers tuned in during primetime, with 831,000 adults 18-49. The marathon event also increased unique visitors to the Nickelodeon website the week leading up to "The Best Day Ever," in part for its related game, promotion video and full-length msuic video.

In the special, SpongeBob has the perfect day planned: flipping patties at the Krusty Krab, engaging in karate with Sandy, jellyfishing with Patrick and then attending Squidward's clarinet recital. When he's disappointed by mishaps every step of the way, the usually happy-go-lucky sponge must readjust his outlook to see that it's friends, not plans that make a good day.

The episode also included the song "The Best Day Ever," which can be found on the soundtrack of the same name. The CD features all-new original music as well as guest artists Brian Wilson and Tommy Ramone.