‘Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?’ Premiere Draws 18-49 Audiences In Nick’s Push For Co-Viewing

Nickelodeon’s revival of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader, with new host John Cena, got off to an OK start in its Monday night premiere, drawing 1.1 million total viewers.

The viewership total is up double digits over the prior four-week averages with kids and adults in the 7 PM time slot where the network most recently aired repeats of The Loud House, TV’s No. 2 animated kids show. Numbers are up 21% among kids 6-11 and up 34% in 18-49.

In Kids 6-11, 5th Grader scored a 2.3/540,000, on par with last year (-4%), while jumping 33% in adults 18-49 to  .4/338,000, an indication of more parents watching the show with their children.

Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader is part of the programming strategy of new Nick president Brian Robbins for a content slate, which focuses on co-viewing among kids and parents. Also falling in that category are new British family game show The Crystal Maze, and All That, Nick’s new sketch-comedy series revival which premieres this Saturday, June 15.

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? follows the original premise of kids helping adult contestants put their knowledge to the test with questions taken directly from an elementary school curriculum. But the new format puts the rotating cast of a dozen brainy grade-schoolers in the center of the action. Grown-up contestants must revisit the classroom to answer six questions on a variety of subjects from the first through fourth grade before moving on to the final round, where they must race against the clock to answer five questions taken from the fifth grade. Each time the contestants answer questions correctly, their bank increases with a possible winning of $100,000.

Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader is executive produced by Mark Burnett, Barry Poznick and wrestler-actor Cena.