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DISCOVERY CHANNEL'S SKYSCRAPER LIVE WITH NIK WALLENDA DELIVERS MOST WATCHED TELECAST OF THE YEAR

-Blindfold Part of SKYSCRAPER LIVE WITH NIK WALLENDA Grabs 6.7 Million Viewers -

November 3, 2014

Contact - Paul Schur
Group VP, Communications
212.548.5588

Nik Wallenda, "The King of the Highwire," made history on Sunday, Nov. 2 after successfully crossing the "Windy City" of Chicago on a tightrope without a net or tether in SKYSCRAPER LIVE WITH NIK WALLENDA and grabbed 6.7 million viewers for the blindfold walk portion of the event. SKYSCRAPER LIVE WITH NIK WALLENDA captured the attention of fans around the country on social media as it aired live across the United States and in more than 220 countries and territories.

SKYSCRAPER LIVE WITH NIK WALLENDA included two epic tightrope walks in a very competitive Sunday Prime Time landscape. The blindfolded walk from 9:01-9:03PM delivered 2.55 P25-54 and 6.72 million total viewers P2+. The first walk, from 8:35-8:42PM earned a 2.16 P25-54 with 5.84 million Total Viewers P2+. The average of both walks delivered a 2.24 P25-54 and 6.03 million P2+. And the entire telecast which includes both walks as well the nineteen minutes between the two walks 8:35-9:03PM  earned an average 2.17 A25-54 and 5.82 million total viewers P2+.  

SKYSCRAPER LIVE WITH NIK WALLENDA was Discovery Channel's most watched telecast of 2014.  Excluding last year's Skywire Live with Nik Wallenda, SKYSCRAPER LIVE WITH NIK WALLENDA was the network's most watched telecast since 2010. 

SKYSCRAPER LIVE WITH NIK WALLENDA set social media on fire last night as a wide range of celebrities and athletes tweeted in excitement. While Access Hollywood host Billy Bush asked, "Anybody toss in a prayer for Nik Wallenda in church today?", Pau Gasol of the Chicago Bulls tweeted, "I couldn't even put one foot on that wire!!!" Evel Knievel wished Wallenda "best of luck", Meredith Vieira exclaimed "Bravo, Nik! You are amazing!" as filmmaker Albert Brooks suggested Wallenda could have "gotten to that other building for $2 using Uber". Talk show host Steve Harvey tweeted "On the tightrope of life vision, preparation and faith are the key to success," Lakewood Church Pastor Joel Osteen tweeted that he was praying with Wallenda, and the Chicago mayor's office tweeted, "Amazing, amazing job, @NikWallenda! The entire City of Chicago is so proud of you!"

Discovery took SKYSCRAPER LIVE WITH NIK WALLENDA to new heights through SkyscraperLive.com - a global destination available in 60 countries and 14 languages. Anchored by the Wired In digital show hosted by Chris Jacobs and a suite of six live cameras to complement the on-air programming, audiences racked up 2.5 million streams across the compelling cams. On social, viewers around the world were buzzing with excitement as Wallenda attempted his most daring feats yet. On Facebook, more than 200 countries and terriroties were engaging around the global TV event and, with several worldwide and country-level Twitter trending topics - from #WallendaWalk in the U.S. to #SobreLaCuerdaFloja worldwide, SKYSCRAPER LIVE generated more than 22 million Twitter TV impressions (Source: Nielsen SocialGuide).

Source: Nielsen, L+SD, 11/2/14, rank all Discovery telecasts since 9/27/93, P2+ delivery.

SKYSCRAPER LIVE WITH NIK WALLENDA, hosted by NBC News' Willie Geist, Natalie Morales and The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore, is produced by Peacock Productions for Discovery with Gretchen Eisele, Colleen Halpin, Knute Walker, Benjamin Ringe and Betsy Wagner serving as executive producers. Sharon Scott is President and GM of Peacock Productions. Executive Producers for Discovery Channel are Howard Swartz and Denise Contis. Other Executive Producers include Nik Wallenda, David Simone, Winston Simone and Shelley Ross.