NEW YORK, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Nearly 9 million viewers tuned in to watch the new U.S. animated TV movie, "SpongeBob Atlantis SquarePantis" when it debuted Monday night, Nickelodeon said.
The movie starred all the regular characters from the "SpongeBob" TV cartoon show and featured the voice talent of David Bowie as a new sea creature.
"SpongeBob's" first TV movie led Nickelodeon to its highest rated total day of the year with children 2-11 and kids 6-11, and ranked overall with total viewers as the No. 1 cable entertainment program of the evening.
Leading up to the prime-time underwater adventure, Nickelodeon held a 12-hour marathon, counting down favorite "SpongeBob" episodes.
The marathon attracted a total of 4.2 million viewers and more than 1 million votes were cast for kids' favorite episodes from Oct. 15 to Nov. 4 on TurboNick, Nick's broadband video player on Nick.com.
