Here Are the Facts. [Read]

I thought of blogging this Vulture piece on JONAS‘ Saturday ratings earlier, and interestingly enough, its plot has since thickened in an enlightening, and somewhat funnier still, way.

I’ve usually enjoyed the Vulture blog and their pieces on the Boys (one of which inspired our first official blog post). They have seemed to me to skewer their hyperbolic media portrayal as much as the Jonases themselves (meta-licious!).  It’s pretty tongue in cheek overall.

So today, I chuckled a bit when I opened their post entitled “The Jonas Brothers’ Failing Streak Continues“, which was citing the Hollywood Reporter article “Disney’s ‘Jonas’ doesn’t quite pop“.  I chuckled because Vulture’s writing is like Opposite Day, and the way I read it, they were basically mocking the ridiculous standards against which an astonishingly successful band like the Jonas Brothers can be held in order to generate an intriguing media angle – “disappointment”, “impending doom”!!

But with lines like

“…along with their last album’s embarrassing failure to cure diabetes, comes news that the Jonas Brothers’ new Disney Channel show, JONAS, debuted to unspectacular ratings on Saturday night. The show was watched by a mere 3.2 million viewers between the ages of 6 and 14, which is the approximate number of fans standing outside of Zac Efron’s house on an average weekday. Are the Jonas Brothers over?”

…was this piece really something to be taken so seriously? SILLY, I thought.

Well…Disney did not agree, exactly. They wrote to them to clarify some points and the Vulture updated by printing their letter.

My first reaction upon seeing this was not unlike a tween whose parent has just revealed some aspect of their babyhood to the superhawt college-aged cashier in the grocery checkout line: OMGEMBARRASSING, it’s just a JOKE, geez.

But then I read the letter and truly appreciated the facts therein.  Read what the Senior Vice President of Media Relations at Disney Channel, Patti McTeague, has to say, should anyone (looking at you, Perez) talk smack about the supposedly tragic UnHannahMontanaNess of the Boys’ numbers.

Crunch ‘em with Patti, after the jump…

Oh, snap:

Here are the facts which are, of course, contrary to your post today:

Disney Channel is not disappointed in the ratings for the debut of “JONAS” which delivered 4 million total viewers, doubled the channel’s Saturday ratings and defeated Nickelodeon in Total Viewers, Kids 6-11 and Tweens.

“Camp Rock” was TV’s #1 telecast among Tweens 9-14 and cable TV’s most-watched entertainment telecast in Total Viewers (10.1 million) for 2008. The soundtrack shipped 2.5 million units and is certified double-platinum. The DVD of “Camp Rock” was the #3 selling TV property on DVD for 2008 with over one million units sold from August-December (the #1 and #2 rankings were not far off in sales). Hardly disappointing.

Your comment about the Jonas Brothers recent album and “curing diabetes” is at best, disappointing. You may want to know that the album has sold over two million CDs worldwide and more importantly, Jonas Brothers have raised over $1 million dollars for charities that support a cure for diabetes.

Thanks.

Patti McTeague

Senior Vice President, Media Relations

Disney Channel

P.S. about the 3D movie — it did quite well, in fact…(over $19 million) but people tend to compare it to the massive results of “Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert.”

If Jonas Brothers 3D Concert Experience had premiered first, IT would be #1. Regardless, it defeats concert films by the likes of U2, Madonna and Rolling Stones. Here’s the rest of the Top 10 list: Madonna: Truth or Dare (15.0), U2 3D (9.8), U2 Rattle and Hum (8.6) Rolling Stones (5.5), Talking Heads (5.1), Prince (3.0), Neil Young (1.9), ‘N Sync (1.8).

Remember, the Hannah Montana 3D concert film came on the heels of a sold out concert tour that was a phenomenon… and after a two year run of “Hannah Montana,” arguably the biggest TV series ever on a kid-focused network.

Thanks, Patti!

Obviously, Hannah/Miley is a juggernaut not to be doubted.  But are the Jonas boys to feel like losers in her shadow when they are outperforming so many others who would love to be in their position in music/TV/film?  Maybe for a snarky little larf, but does anyone in their right mind really think so…seriously?

{Oh…and when do we get the online viewership numbers?  That’s how I watched. }

[Via: The Vulture Blog @ NY Magazine]