News

Dragonball Z Tops Ratings.

Beating out everything from Digimon to the Simpsons and other Prime Time broadcast shows, the season premiere of Dragonball Z was the most watched show on TV last week (week ending September 22^nd) for its key demographics.

"We anticipated good ratings for the new season, but having the number one show for our target audience on all cable television is outstanding," exclaims Gen Fukunaga, president and founder of FUNimation Productions, LTD. "From the success of the series, to home videos and our figures from IF Labs, Dragonball Z is a very strong property."

The season premiere of Dragonball Z aired on September 16^th on Cartoon Network's Toonami. What is particularly surprising about the ultra-high ratings is that Dragonball Z is only shown on that one cable channel. It is relatively rare for the top show in any demographic to be anything other than a show airing on a broadcast network such as ABC or NBC.

Reflecting the success of the show during the week ending September 22 (as compared to the same time period last year), FUNimation's press release states:

• Dragonball Z was the #1 program of the week on all cable television with tweens 9-14, boys 9-14 and men 12-24.
  
• Dragonball Z's boys 9-14 ratings (11.5) jumped +70 percent, while men 12-24 ratings (6.6) leaped 120 percent, compared to the same time period last year.
  
• The Wednesday, Monday and Tuesday telecasts of Dragonball Z ranked as the top three programs in all of television -- broadcast or cable -- for delivery of boys 9-14. (The closest competitor was CBS' Survivor: Thailand.)