Movies on the Disney Channel tend to draw armies of kids 6 to 14, but its two-hour scripted original "Minutemen" on Jan. 25 beat every other cable network in total primetime viewers, harvesting a gaudy 6.5 million.
The movie, about students who go back to the recent past in a time machine, was the key reason why the Disney Channel ended up No. 1 overall among viewers both in primetime and in total day for Jan. 25.
The kids also showed up, big time. "Minutemen" averaged 2.9 million kids 6 to 11, triple digits higher than second-place Nickelodeon, at 700,000. And it averaged 2.6 million kids 9 to 14, also triple digits higher than Nickelodeon's 448,000.
The movie stars Jason Dolley, who's the lead in Disney Channel's successful "Corey in the House" series.
Contact the Variety newsroom at
news@variety.com