REEL BIG FISH: ANIMAL PLANET'S "RIVER MONSTERS" CATCHES 1.6 MILLION VIEWERS IN SECOND OUTING

Two Consecutive Weeks of Record Ratings Help Capture Top Ten Rankings at 10 PM in Cable

May 4, 2010

REEL BIG FISH: ANIMAL PLANET'S "RIVER MONSTERS" CATCHES 1.6 MILLION VIEWERS IN SECOND OUTING

-- Two Consecutive Weeks of Record Ratings Help Capture Top Ten Rankings at 10 PM in Cable ---- "Killer Snakehead" Ties as Best-Performing Episode of RIVER MONSTERS Among P25-54 --

(New York, New York, May 4, 2010) - The second episode of Animal Planet's best-performing series ever, RIVER MONSTERS, found biologist and extreme angler Jeremy Wade in search of snakehead fish from the rivers of Thailand to the canals of Florida. Not only did he find the killer species, he found another record-breaking audience for the "Killer Snakehead" episode, which tied with the April 2009 premiere of "Killer Catfish" as the highest-rated episode of RIVER MONSTERS to-date among P25-54 (0.9). "Killer Snakehead" - which aired Sunday, May 2, 2010 - reeled in a 1.1 HH rating and delivered more than 1.6 million P2+ viewers for the second week in a row.

The second installment of RIVER MONSTERS helped Animal Planet rank among the Top 10 ad-supported cable networks in the 10 PM hour on Sunday, including 5th among M25-54 (588K) and 7th among P25-54 (951K). Also, RIVER MONSTERS ranked in the Top 15 telecasts in all ad-supported cable in Primetime, including 7th among M25-54 and 12th among P25-54.

Overall, the first two episodes of the second season of RIVER MONSTERS are tracking ahead of its first season by double-digits among all key demos, including: HH (+10%), P25-54 (+27%), M25-54 (+21%), W25-54 (+38%) and P2+ (+17%).

"Jeremy's murky and mysterious search for these creatures has clearly struck a chord with our audience and gained traction," said Marjorie Kaplan, president and general manager of Animal Planet. "Fans of Jeremy have five more weeks of freshwater adventure ahead of them, and Animal Planet is proud to be the home to this unique series."

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 marine life. And, like all the best horror movies, the images are intense, immediate, gritty and real.

RIVER MONSTERS is produced for Animal Planet by Icon Films. Harry and Laura Marshall are the executive producers for Icon Films, and Lisa Lucas is the executive producer for Animal Planet. Charlie Foley is vice president of development for Animal Planet.

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.