Nickelodeon’s Jan. 18 debut of “Big Time Rush” was the network’s highest-rated and most-watched live-action Nick series premiere, Multichannel News reports.

It benefited from a lead-in from a new episode of “iCarly,” which drew its best numbers ever.

The “iCarly” episode attracted 11.2 million viewers at 8 p.m.; “Big Time Rush,” a comedy about four friends who join the L.A. pop scene, followed with an average 6.8 million viewers.

–Elizabeth Jensen