BABY OH BABY! "GOOD LUCK CHARLIE: IT'S CHRISTMAS" DELIVERS ANOTHER BIG PREMIERE FOR DISNEY CHANNEL ORIGINAL MOVIE FRANCHISE

Ratings for Sitcom Debut of "Austin & Ally" Hit all the Right Notes

The significant ratings force known as the Disney Channel Original Movie franchise has done it again, delivering 6.9 million Total Viewers with Friday's (8:00 p.m.) premiere of "Good Luck Charlie: It's Christmas," inspired by the hit sitcom "Good Luck Charlie." The premiere also delivered 3.3 million Kids 6-11, 2.4 million Tweens and 1.4 million Adults 18-49. The premiere was sponsored by Nintendo Mario Cart 7. The movie led into the very strong debut of the music-centered sitcom, "Austin & Ally" (9:30 p.m.), which delivered 5.7 million Total Viewers, 2.7 million Kids 6-11 and 2.1 million Tweens. It premieres in its regular timeslot Sunday, December 4 (8:00 p.m.).

"Good Luck Charlie: It's Christmas" became the No. 1 live-action cable movie of 2011 in Total Viewers, and the No. 1 live-action scripted telecast across all TV in Kids 6-11. Along with the premiere of "Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension" in August, Disney Channel owns the year's Top 2 scripted TV telecasts in Kids 6-11, and the Top 2 across all cable TV overall. Furthermore, "Austin & Ally" ranks as Disney Channel's No. 2 series launch on record in Kids 6-11 and its No. 1 series debut ever in Boys 6-11 (1.0 million).

"Good Luck Charlie: It's Christmas" stars the cast of the hit series -- Bridgit Mendler, Jason Dolley, Leigh-Allyn Baker, Bradley Steven Perry, Mia Talerico and Eric Allan Kramer -- and finds the Duncan family getting hopelessly separated during a trip to Grandma's house, scrambling to reunite in time for Christmas. The storyline revealed that the stork is on the way to the Duncans next year. At the telecast's conclusion, Disney Channel invited viewers to choose from among 10 names for the baby sister or brother who will debut in spring 2012 during a special hour episode of "Good Luck Charlie." Baby name voting continues through December 16 at DisneyChannel.com/BabyVote.

19-year-old actress and Hollywood Records recording artist Bridgit Mendler co-wrote and performs the song "I'm Gonna Run to You" in the movie.

Disney Channel Original Movies dominate basic cable TV's ratings, delivering the No. 1 movie in Total Viewers for five consecutive years and the No. 1 movie telecast among Tweens for 10 consecutive years. They are "Cadet Kelly," "The Cheetah Girls," "Halloweentown High," "Twitches," "The Cheetah Girls 2," "High School Musical 2," "Camp Rock," "Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie," "Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam" and "Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension," respectively. The latter is also cable television's No. 1 animated telecast of all time among Kids 2-11.

"Good Luck Charlie: It's Christmas" was filmed in Salt Lake City and St. George, Utah. The movie is executive-produced by Sheri Singer along with the three executive producers of the series, Dan Staley, Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen. The script was written by Geoff Rodkey and directed by Arlene Sanford.

"Austin & Ally" stars Ross Lynch, Laura Marano, Raini Rodriguez and Calum Worthy. It was created and is executive-produced by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert.

Source: NTI, early ratings, U.S. 2011 to date: 12/27/10 - 12/1/11.