MUMBAI: Close on the heels of the announcement of a new head, Nickelodeon now boasts of entering the ratings game as the second longest watched channel amongst kids over the last three weeks (Week 40 to Week 42, daypart 07:00 - 22:00, 4-14 ABC, HSM1L+ markets).

The latest Tam data suggests that specific to this week (ie.Week 42, 15 - 21 October) Nick has squeezed itself into the second spot with timespent/viewer (TS/V) as being 162.05 minutes. However, the timespent/universe (TS/U), tells a different story as Nick slips to the fifth position with 22.2 minutes.

Hungama TV heads the pack, while the Disney Channel has overtaken the two players from the Turner stable, Cartoon Network and Pogo.

What's interesting, is that for same period (Week 42) Nick has held 0.41 TVRs outrunning the Southern leader Toon Disney (0.30 TVRs) and is not trailing too far behind Pogo which has clocked 0.46 TVRs.

Nick appears to be heading for happier times as it also claims the leadership position among all kids' channels in the younger kids category as time spent is pegged at 228 minutes (Week 42, daypart 07:00 - 22:00, 4-9 ABC, HSM1L+ markets). This category has seen a growth in GRPs of 83 per cent (From 84 in Week 39 to 154 in Week 42).

Additionally, over the past four weeks (Week 39 to Week 42) the time spent per individual on Nick has risen 74 per cent, while GRPs have risen 62 per cent to 86 (from 53 in Week 39 to 86 in Week 42), the channel claims.

Putting up a firm fight, the key properties that seem to be propelling this growth include Ninja Hattori, The Munnabhai Show and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron.