Discovery Press Web United States

• Print

(Silver Spring, Md., March 27, 2012) - Animal Planet finished first quarter with record-setting achievements, delivering its best quarter ever among P2+ viewers (441K) and Households (355K) in total day. The network also had its best quarter ever among M25-54 in both prime (156K) and total day (97K), up 36% and 26% compared to year-ago respectively.

Posting double-digit gains over last year in prime among key demos, Animal Planet earned its strongest first-quarter prime ratings in eight years among P2+ viewers (667K, +14% ) and in nine years among HH (500K, +17% ).

"Since the New Year, viewers have flocked to Animal Planet week after week, drawn in by our new series and returning hit shows like FINDING BIGFOOT," says Marjorie Kaplan, president and general manager of Animal Planet. "We expect to continue the momentum with new seasons of our top two performing series of all time, RIVER MONSTERS, premiering this Sunday, and WHALE WARS, coming later this spring."

Animal Planet's success is fueled by hit series, including FINDING BIGFOOT, which remains one of the network's top three performing series of all time among P25-54, and TOO CUTE!, which ranks as the second strongest Animal Planet series year to date among P25-54 and W25-54. In first quarter, FINDING BIGFOOT experienced a strong second season, averaging 1.4M P2+ viewers , up 15% vs. season one. The FINDING BIGFOOT episodes "Baby Bigfoot" and "Buckeye Bigfoot" each brought in 1.6M P2+ viewers and rank as the series' most-watched episodes ever. Season to date, TOO CUTE! has exceeded 2011 premieres by more than 40% among P2+, delivering more than 1.1M viewers.

Animal Planet Media (APM), a multi-media business unit of Discovery Communications, is the world's only entertainment brand that immerses viewers in the full range of life in the animal kingdom with rich, deep content via multiple platforms and offers animal lovers and pet owners access to a centralized online, television and mobile community for immersive, engaging, high-quality entertainment, information and enrichment.  APM consists of the Animal Planet television network, available in more than 96 million homes in the US; online assets www.animalplanet.com, the ultimate online destination for all things animal; the 24/7 broadband channel, Animal Planet Beyond; Petfinder.com, the #1 pet-related Web property globally that facilitates pet adoption; and other media platforms including a robust Video-on-Demand (VOD) service; mobile content; and merchandising extensions.

# # #