The audience for Sunday’s new episode of the Disney Channel phenom fell 14% from the previous fresh episode, which aired just under two months earlier, according to the Nielsen Company.

Compared to the first original show of the year, which aired in January, viewership for Sunday’s show was down 26%.

That suggests the hubbub over series star Miley Cyrus’ questionable photos in Vanity Fair neither helped nor hurt with viewership. Rather, “Hannah” was on a decline before the photo dustup.

An estimated 3.1 million viewers tuned in for “Hannah’s” 7p.m. Sunday edition, which aired out of the network’s usual pattern for fresh episodes.

As with most Disney Channel shows that get hot, Disney programmers are faced with having a limited number of original episodes they need to be spread out over a long period. So, while the show airs multiple times over the course of a week, the time between new episodes can be very long.

There’s also been a decline in the overall audience for the show’s reruns.

But just yesterday, Bob Iger, Disney’s president and chief executive officer, said: “With a new season of shows coming up, a new record in July and a theatrical film next year, the ‘Hannah Montana’/Miley Cyrus franchise is incredibly robust.”

Experience shows that kid franchises such as “Hannah” that hit the rare white-hot phase are good for roughly 18 months, then start to fade.

“Hannah Montana” had been the top-rated show with young viewers the past two seasons, but because of the slow rollout this year, the heat has moved to the “Wizards of Waverly Place,” starring Selena Gomez (who has appeared on “Hannah”), which now holds the slot as Disney’s top show.

Despite the declines, “Hannah” merchandise still sells well. For instance, Wal-Mart has created areas just for “Hannah” items. Also, production began yesterday on the “Hannah Montana” feature film.

“‘Hannah Montana’ kicked off as the highest-rated cable premiere series ever among kids and tweens, held the No. 1 rank across all TV, second only to ‘American Idol’ [in that age group] for two years, and is now a global hit,” said Gary Marsh, president, entertainment, Disney Channels Worldwide.

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Miley Cyrus prefers to cover up when it comes to fashion - despite recently posing half naked for a Vanity Fair magazine shoot.

The Hannah Montana star sparked controversy in the U.S. when the candid snaps - which show Cyrus posing bare-backed, wrapped in a satin sheet - emerged online, forcing the 15-year-old to issue an apology over the controversial Annie Leibovitz photos.

But she insists she is nothing like that in real life, and likes to wear more “modest” fashion choices when she’s out and about.

She says, “All the clothes - all the short skirts and all that stuff - my mom would never in a million years let me leave the house like that. So I think that a really cool thing that everyone’s doing now is layering, just to keep yourself modest and cute. My aunt got me a shirt that says, ‘Modest is Hottest’ which is totally true.”

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WENN

Advertising experts disagree about whether Miley Cyrus hurt her “ability to influence brand affinity” by appearing in Vanity Fair magazine in poses that critics have described as suggestive and scandalous.

David Weisswasser, head of Platinum Rye, which provides celebrity talent for top ad agencies, told Advertising Age that he though the photos were “rather tame” and were intended to help Cyrus make the transition for “pop tart” to artist.

However, Jason Michelotti of Davie Brown Talent in Portland, OR, said that while her fans probably think the Vanity Fair spread is no big deal, “their parents think it’s a big deal, and that’s why advertisers are likely to be concerned.”

And Mike Sitrick, whose PR firm advised Paris Hilton after she was jailed, told AdAge that he would advise Cyrus’s parents to “go on the attack. … I mean, she exposed no more of her body than would be seen in most junior prom dresses or even bathing suits.”

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WENN

Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus is too busy to have a serious boyfriend, and insists her life in the spotlight is “too much to handle” for any potential suitors.

The Start All Over star - who has been linked to fellow teen singer Nick Jonas, the youngest of the Jonas Brothers - admits her hectic lifestyle has ruined any chance of a love life right now, although she prefers to be the elusive girl “no one can get”.

She says, “I think I’m too much to handle right now. There’s so much going on in my life at the moment with travelling and there’s always cameras following me - all that kind of stuff. I don’t think it’s great for dating anyone. There are guys I like to hang out with, but I like to be the girl who no one can get. I think that’s always hotter anyway. It’s much more attractive to be the person everyone talks about.”

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WENN

Miley Cyrus stepped on to the stage this weekend for the first time since her controversial Vanity Fair portrait was revealed.

The Hannah Montana star has kept a low profile since sparking outrage this week for the provocative photoshoot - even pulling out of a public appearance at a Disney Channel Games media party in Orlando, Florida on Friday.

But the 15-year-old seemed to be in good spirits as she made her return to the spotlight at a Saturday concert for the Disney Channel.

She kicked off her performance with her hit song See You Again and even debuted two new songs, Fly on the Wall and Breakout, off her forthcoming album, expected for release in July.

After performing her set, Cyrus told the crowd, “I hope you had an awesome time. I saw a sign back there that said, ‘Miley, I’m praying for you.’ I could not be more appreciative. Thank you guys for all your support. Without you, none of this would be possible. I love every one of you and I could not be more appreciative. God bless you.”

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WENN

Miley Cyrus won’t be attending her first scheduled public appearance since Vanity Fair published photos that have thrown her status as a role model for young girls into question, Disney said Thursday.

The 15-year-old star of “Hannah Montana” for weeks has been scheduled to appear at a red carpet event Friday, but is no longer expected, Disney confirmed. Cyrus was to appear at a media party in Orlando on Friday, along with dozens of other Disney Channel stars in town to film the “Disney Channel Games,” a charity competition.

Disney did not elaborate on the change in Cyrus’ status for the party.

The photos, showing Cyrus’ bare shoulders and back, were taken by renowned celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz. She and the magazine defended the pictures, saying the singer, her parents and her handlers approved of the images during the shoot.

Cyrus said earlier this week that she was “embarrassed” by the pictures and apologized to fans.

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WENN

Along with the controversy surrounding her portrait in Vanity Fair, Miley Cyrus has also been criticized for telling the magazine that Sex and the City is her “favorite show!” – and for comparing the racy series to her Disney mega-hit Hannah Montana.

“I love it!” the 15-year-old singer told Vanity Fair of the former HBO series, known for its candid sex scenes and explicit language. “If you watch Sex and the City, like the way the friends are, the way that it’s dry and they all have distinct characters – that’s a thing we try to do on our show.”

But sources say the criticism is unwarranted. “The show she watches is completely sanitized. She watches it on TBS,” says a source close to Cyrus. (TBS airs an edited-for-TV version of the iconic series.) “[Miley’s mom] Tish doesn’t allow HBO in the house. They only have basic cable.”

Adds another source: “People who know her know that she’s trying to live a good life and know she has a good family and good faith.”

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Man, everyone needs to lay off the ol’ witch hunt, and let this poor girl be!