Second Installment of Animal Planet's RIVER MONSTERS Catches Network's Best-Performing Telecast Ever

-- Animal Planet Ranks in Top Five in All of Cable at 10 PM with RIVER MONSTERS --

April 14, 2009

(New York, N.Y.) This past Sunday evening, Animal Planet and extreme angler Jeremy Wade's new series RIVER MONSTERS searched for a killer catfish on its second fishing adventure and captured a killer audience with 1.325M homes (1.4 household rating) and 966K P25-54 viewers, making it the network's best-performing, regularly-scheduled prime telecast ever. Nearly two million (1.866M) P2+ viewers watched a new episode at 10 PM (ET/PT), outperforming last week's series debut by 39%. With RIVER MONSTERS, Animal Planet placed fourth among M25-54 and sixth among all of cable in terms of P25-54 delivery in the 10 PM hour. In prime overall, RIVER MONSTERS ranked among the top 10 cable programs among M25-54 (#6) and P25-54 (#10). The series continues for five additional weeks on Sunday evenings.

RIVER MONSTERS garnered stunning triple-digit ratings and delivery gains compared to the year-ago timeslot average among all key demos, including: P2+ 209% (1.866M vs. 610k); HH +193% (1.325M vs. 452K); P25-54 +360% (966K vs. 210K); M25-54 +508% (608K vs. 100K); W25-54 +225% (358K vs. 110K); and P18-49 +371% (1.012M vs. 215K).

"Two spectacular river adventures with Jeremy Wade and two amazing Sunday nights for Animal Planet," says Marjorie Kaplan, president and general manager of Animal Planet Media. "RIVER MONSTERS has struck a nerve with our viewers and between man-eating piranha and killer catfish, the series is the ultimate in frightening and breathtaking storytelling. We have a huge success on our hands -- or our fins."

RIVER MONSTERS travels worldwide with host, biologist and extreme angler Jeremy Wade to solve freshwater mysteries, debunk myths and track down harrowing tales. Wade has made his life's passion and career searching for a variety of aquatic vertebrae while navigating the globe's waterways. Wade comes face-to-face with fear while trying to understand these mysterious predators with a taste for human flesh. He puts his life on the line to find truly monster-sized fish while globetrotting through Germany, Australia, Brazil and even the state of Texas. His remaining quests catapult him in search fascinating creatures such as alligator gar, wels catfish, bullshark, piraiba/candiru, and arapaima, all supposedly deadly creatures shrouded in mystery -- especially their feeding habits.

RIVER MONSTERS is a production of Icon Films for Animal Planet. Harry Marshall is the executive producer for Icon Films, and Mick Kaczorowski is the executive producer for Animal Planet.

About Animal Planet Media

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 95 million homes in the U.S.; 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.

About Discovery Communications

Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the world's number one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in 170 countries. Discovery empowers people to explore their world and satisfy their curiosity through 100-plus worldwide networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Planet Green, Investigation Discovery and HD Theater, as well as leading consumer and educational products and services, and a diversified portfolio of digital media services including HowStuffWorks.com. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.