Disney Roars With 'The Lion Guard' Debut

By R. Thomas Umstead
published

The Nov. 22 premiere of Disney Channel’s The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar movie showed some ratings teeth, generating 4.1 million viewers.

The sequel to Disney’s popular The Lion King film and pilot episode for its The Lion Guard series premiering in 2016 was the top primetime cable TV telecast this year among kids 2 to 5 and the most watched animated telecast across kid-targeted TV networks among total viewers, according to Nielsen Live +3 ratings.

The Lion Guard also drew a strong adult audience, with one-third of viewers falling within the adult 18-49 demo, according to Disney.

Overall, The Lion Guard: Return Of The Roar averaged 5.4 million viewers when factoring in Nielsen Live +3 ratings, according to Disney.

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.