The Cartoon Network's ratings for May continued to climb.  For the second month in a row the network remained the top cable destination for kids 2-11 -- and overall the Cartoon Network ranked third in both primetime and daytime among all ad-supported cable networks, trailing only TNT and Nickelodeon.  Strong ratings for the Adult Swim block, the Family Guy and the Justice League also buoyed a powerful late night lineup.  In addition to doing well versus the competition, the Cartoon Network's May numbers also showed marked improvement over its performance in May 2002.

One of the surprise hits for the Cartoon Network is the Family Guy, a show that struggled for three seasons on the Fox network before being cancelled.  Last Thursday's (May 22) episode provided the network's largest ever audience in the coveted 18-34 year-old demographic, with some 900,000 viewers--a 291% increase from the same time period last year.  Some semblance of the surprising popularity of the Family Guy series can be seen in sales of the first season Family Guy DVD collection, which has already sold some 400,000 units.

The anime-heavy Adult Swim block continues to improve its performance with the number of 18-34 year olds growing some 138% since the block debuted in its current format in January.  The Justice League, which serves as a lead-in to the Family Guy, also performed exceptionally well, especially with kids 2-11, which is undoubtedly the reason the series is moving to the Toonami block soon (see 'Justice League Bounces Dragon Ball').