'Wizards of Waverly Place' Series Finale Is Franchise's Most-Watched Episode

"Jessie" and "Fish Hooks" capitalized on the strong finish for the Selena Gomez-led comedy, hitting series highs.

5:57 PM PST 1/9/2012 by Philiana Ng

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Disney Channel

"Wizards of Waverly Place"

Selena Gomez and her friends on Wizards of Waverly Place signed off in style, setting Disney Channel's record for the most-watched finale ever.

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Friday evening's special one-hour telecast of the series boasted 9.8 million total viewers from 8-9 p.m., topping CBS' A Gifted Man in the hour for viewership by nearly 1.5 million. Easily the franchise's most-watched episode, the closer also set series bests among kids 6-11 (4.2 million) and tweens 9-14 (3.8 million).

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Notably, the Wizards of Waverly Place finale is the current TV season's most-watched cable telecast among scripted programs. For a point of reference, the comedy has usually hovered around the 4 million mark during its four-season run.

With a big boost from its lead-in, Jessie and Fish Hooks followed with series highs in their respective time periods (9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.) in all key categories. Jessie notched 7.6 million for its episode, while Fish Hooks averaged 4.4 million.