Shell Shocked

The hit movie is also boosting its syndicated cartoon counterpart, which was already in a hefty 129 markets nationwide. Group W Productions prez Derk Zimmerman tells us many of those stations “have been improving the time period of the show to take advantage of the movie publicity.”

Locally, KCOP plans to keep its 7 a.m. weekday “TMNT” slot. But the initial turtle movie media blitz has jolted local ratings. The TV cartoon show made its first five-day ratings sweep here, beating its morning network show competition with an average 5.9 rating and 25 share.

Nationally, the syndicated kiddie program got its highest national overnight Nielsens ever last week: 5.0 with a 14 audience share, compared to a 4.3 rating two weeks earlier, according to Group W veep Owen Simon.