A lineup of sports superstars including Dwyane Wade, Tim Howard, Serena Williams, Kevin Durant, Gabby Douglas, Victor Cruz, Carmelo Anthony and more helped lead Nickelodeon's inaugural Kids' Choice Sports 2014 to a ratings victory for its Thursday, July 17, (8-9:30 p.m.) telecast.
Nick's first-year Awards won the night with kids 2-11, 6-11 and tweens, but also handily outperformed the prior evening's ESPYs with kids 2-11 by triple digits (850%) and edged out a win with total viewers by +5% (KCS's 2.3MM total viewers v. ESPYs 2.2MM). This makes Kids' Choice Sports stand as the biggest must-see sports awards telecast.
Kids' Choice Sports earned a 3.8/1.2 million with Kids 2-11, up +52% from last year. With kids 6-11, it posted a 5.2/1.0 MM, up +68%. Among tweens, it garnered a 4.2/848,000, up +83%. The show's total viewer average of 2.3 MM represents a +37% increase over last year's time period, as well.
Hosted by Michael Strahan (LIVE with Kelly and Michael,
FOX NFL Sunday), the awards were broadcast live from UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles where kids honored their favorite athletes, teams and sports moments from the year in one big, slimy sports celebration.
World-renowned athlete David Beckham was presented with Kids' Choice Sports' first Legend Award, a gold mohawked blimp, for his incredible talent and outstanding sportsmanship on the field. Adding to his list of accomplishments, Beckham also received the first-ever gold sliming in Kids' Choice history with his sons Romeo and Cruz.
In a special half-time show filled with music, athleticism and slime, award-winning country stars Florida Georgia Line rewarded fans with a performance medley of their smash hits "Cruise" and "This is How We Roll," followed by a thorough drenching of the mosh pit. In a live vote during the show, kids decided on the contents--maple syrup, whipped cream or slime--of the giant dunk tanks in the "Verizon Power Dunk" competition. Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald prevailed, dunking Seattle Seahawks defensive back Earl Thomas III in a giant tank of green goo, only to be dunked himself by Strahan.
Dallas Mavericks center Tyson Chandler, basketball forward Metta World Peace, and
The Haunted Hathaways star Benjamin "Lil' P-Nut' Flores Jr. cheered on 15-year-old Ricardo Jacobo Jr. in the "Kids' Choice Sports Half-Court Shot Contest" who landed the $50,000 grand prize.
Additional highlights from the sports celebration include:
Super Bowl XLVIII champion Marshawn Lynch (Seattle Seahawks) running an epic football play into a pool of slime with a KCS trophy; Will Arnett (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie) and New York Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist going head to head in a hockey shoot-out; a cross-arena football pass by sports trick shot group Dude Perfect; and an exhilarating grand finale featuring multi-Grammy Award-winner Pharrell Williams who performed his chart-topping hit "Happy."
Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Sports 2014 was produced by
Nickelodeon Productions in association with Done + Dusted. Ian Stewart and Hamish Hamilton of Done + Dusted, Michael Strahan, Jay Schmalholz, Shelly Sumpter Gillyard and Constance Schwartz of SMAC Entertainment are executive producers.
Nickelodeon, now in its 35th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in almost 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 19 consecutive years.
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