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"High School Musical 2" Breaks Ratings Record

The Disney Channel's "High School Musical 2" pulled an eye-popping 17.2 million viewers -- the highest-ever rating for a basic cable channel and more than double the numbers of the original movie in January, according to Nielsen.

The sequel also attracted the most youngsters of any telecast ever on broadcast or cable, with 6.1 million, and is now the second-most-watched entertainment telecast in the ages 9-14 demo, behind only the Super Bowl in 2004. The previous cable record holder was a Monday Night Football game last year on ESPN, which drew 16 million.

"HSM2" was also TV's most-viewed Friday-night telecast in over five years. Disney had a built-in fan base for the flick after the success of the original, but the net also heavily promoted the second version with online games, streaming music, a "docu-musical," a public-affairs program, mobile messages and a televised barbecue hosted by its stars.

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