ANIMAL PLANET’S SUNDAY NIGHT DREW STELLAR RATINGS
Two-Hour Documentary on Remote Island Nation of Madagascar and Sawfish Episode of RIVER MONSTERS Help Network Rank in Top Ten of Cable for P25-54
May 3, 2011
(New York, New York, May 3, 2011) - Animal Planet had a record-setting Sunday night, led by the world premiere of the two-hour documentary MADAGASCAR, followed by a new episode of the network's best-performing series RIVER MONSTERS, called "Chainsaw Predator," featuring the endangered sawfish. Both premieres helped Animal Planet rank among the Top 10 ad-supported cable networks on Sunday evening among P25-54 (648K) and M25-54 (381K).
MADAGASCAR is Animal Planet's most- watched natural history telecast in four years delivering 1.367M P2+ viewers, and it achieved a 1.0 HH rating.
"Chainsaw Predator" is the third most-watched RIVER MONSTERS episode (behind "Killer Catfish" and "Death Ray") among HH (1.1M) and the most-watched of the current third season among P25-54 (853K) and M25-54 (517K). The episode drew 1.591M P2+ viewers.
For 65 million years, MADAGASCAR was lost to the world - sat in splendid isolation, undiscovered and untouched by man. Left to its own devices, it became a hotbed of evolution - creating the greatest concentration of unique creatures anywhere on the planet. More than 80% of Madagascar's animals and plants are found nowhere else on Earth. Recognized as one of the world's most important biodiverse hotspots, this documentary uncovers the Alice-in-Wonderland island of weird animals, strange plants and extraordinary landscapes.
In RIVER MONSTERS, extreme angler and biologist Jeremy Wade is back on the hunt for legendary, flesh-eating freshwater fish in another season of Animal Planet's best-performing series ever. Wade's international excursions into the dark side of the watery depths mixes action and adventure with incredible mysteries, edge-of-the-seat chases and a battle of wills between man and the nearly supernatural beasts that lurk in the world's serpentine waterways. The new season brings Wade to some of the most scenic and feared locations on Earth in search of all-new, mysterious underwater life. And, like all the best horror movies, the images are intense, immediate, gritty and real.