Hah!
I miss that show...
Strange, but it's not really surprising to me that the creaky MF with all its hokey cornpone is beating CBS News. I've actually known quite a few kids over the last decade (upper income, urban area, highly sophisticated snowboarding, hip-hop i-podding, 12 y o & under children with all the typical gadgets & accoutrements their economic bracket conveys) who watch that show religiously & I don't think they're alone.
I guess that show serves for them the same purpose as watching ancient "Beverly Hillbillies" reruns after school did for xers growing up?