or


[12/08/15 - 12:07 PM]
Discovery's Prime Time Premiere of "Racing Extinction" Is Most Watched Cable Documentary Film in More Than Three Years
Discovery further spins the numbers for Wednesday, December 2.

[via press release from Discovery]

DISCOVERY'S PRIME TIME PREMIERE OF "RACING EXTINCTION" IS MOST WATCHED CABLE DOCUMENTARY FILM IN MORE THAN THREE YEARS

Racing Extinction Premiere Night Grabs 11.6 Million Total Viewers in the U.S.

Film's Call to Action #StartWith1Thing Ignites on Social Media

The much anticipated global television event and Prime Time premiere of RACING EXTINCTION on Wednesday, Dec. 2 reached more than 11.5 Million Total Viewers P2+ for the U.S. simulcast in L+3.

Numbers are not yet available across all international markets; however, among those with reportable figures the current non-U.S. count is six million total viewers. This brings the current total viewership on premiere night to over 17MM and counting. Additionally, U.S. encores over the weekend were viewed by 6.6MM viewers P2+. Final reach numbers across 50 channel brands in more than 220 countries and territories will be in later next week.

The RACING EXTINCTION U.S. simulcast averaged 2.55M million Total Viewers P2+ and averaged 1.18 million Persons 25-54, which makes in the most watched cable documentary film premiere in over three years.

RACING EXTINCTION captured the attention of celebrities, activists, and policy makers and trended on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram on Dec. 2 during the premiere of the film and ranked as a top three top non-sports program in Nielsen's Social Guide for that night. 26.7 million impressions were delivered on Facebook on Dec. 2, and a total of 300 million Facebook impressions across Discovery's global campaign which began in November.

As part of Discovery Education's Virtual Field Trip, where students go beyond the classroom walls and into some of the world's most iconic locations for rich and immersive learning experiences, the RACING EXTINCTION Virtual Field Trip was seen by more than 200,000 students across the U.S. and the dynamic curriculum materials supporting the film's content, have been used by more than one million students.

Discovery Networks International partnered with Discovery/U.S. on an unprecedented half-year global promotional campaign and creative activations for RACING EXTINCTION that generated massive impressions and touched each major market in each region through media tours, film festival partnerships and large-scale consumer projections events that reached 2.2 million in-person and 3.2+ million online users leading up to premiere. Social and digital conversations with more than 105+ million views across all our platforms coupled with comprehensive on-air promotions across our portfolio resulted in meaningful local partnerships to maximize call to action messaging, including talent shout outs supporting #StartWith1Thing.

As part of Discovery's #StartWith1Thing initiative, Discovery's call to action to create a global movement behind the RACING EXTINCTION television event, Discovery partnered with numerous organizations that included Oceana, The Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife and The Humane Society International, among others, to help make a positive global impact on the environment ahead of the network's global premiere. Discovery leveraged its global premiere and additional platforms, including custom branded content, Discovery digital, social media and virtual reality and Discovery Education, along with our partners to ignite curiosity and global actions people can take to make a difference.

Ratings source: US data from The Nielsen Company, Live+3 for all but weekend encores, which are L+SD. Reach uses 1-min. qualifier, including all repeat telecasts across all networks. "Most-watched doc" claim uses 5-net 5-telecast simulcast and excl. non-films, doc series, and doc mini-series. Simulcast average is a sum of the 5 networks' 000s. International data from DNI, L+SD, P3+ or P4+ depending on the market.





  [december 2015]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
  


· SHOWATCH
(series past and present)
· DEVWATCH
(series in development)
· MOVIEWATCH
(tv movies and mini-series)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[01/07/26 - 12:32 PM]
Bowl Season on ESPN Networks Delivers Strongest Audience Since 2015-16
ABC delivered its largest non CFP bowl audience in 12 years, averaging 6.2 million viewers across six games.

[01/07/26 - 09:29 AM]
In 2025, Fans Power ESPN and "ESPN on ABC" to Its Most-Watched Year in Over a Decade
ESPN networks increased industry-leading sports share to 35 percent, up from 31 percent in 2024.

[01/06/26 - 03:18 PM]
FOX NFL Rings in Best Regular Season Since 2015
The regular season averaged 19.633 million viewers for the network.

[01/06/26 - 03:00 PM]
Record-Setting Season as "Sunday Night Football" on NBC and Peacock Averages 23.5 Million Viewers & Paces as Primetime's #1 Show for Unprecedented 15th Consecutive Year
"Sunday Night Football" averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 23.5 million viewers for the 2025 season.

[01/06/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of December 29 - "Stranger Things 5" Concludes Right Side Up at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
At No. 2 on the English TV list with 12.7 million views is the new Harlan Coben mystery series "Run Away," centered on a father desperate for clues about his missing daughter while a string of related murders heightens the urgency to find her.

[01/05/26 - 02:34 PM]
2025-26 College Football Playoff Quarterfinals on ESPN Score 19.3 Million Average Viewers; CFP Up YOY Through Two Rounds
The Rose Bowl (Indiana vs. Alabama) topped all coverage with 23.9 million viewers on average.

[01/05/26 - 09:49 AM]
Prime Video Delivers "Thursday Night Football's" Most-Watched Season Ever
The 2025 season averaged 15.33 million viewers throughout its 15-game campaign, marking a +16% increase over the 2024 season and the third-consecutive year of double-digit, year-over-year viewership growth.

[01/02/26 - 03:45 PM]
"Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" Rises to Four Year High Reaching 30 Million Total Viewers at Midnight
The telecast averaged 18.8 million total viewers in the 11:30pm-12:30am hour alone.

[01/02/26 - 09:49 AM]
FOX NFL's Week 17 "America's Game of the Week" Comes Out on Top with 28.8 Million Viewers
The Eagles-Bills close finish marked FOX's second most-watched telecast of the regular season.

[12/31/25 - 12:46 PM]
NFL Christmas Gameday on Netflix Scores Again With the Lions-Vikings Becoming the Most-Streamed NFL Game in US History
Said coverage averaged 27.5 million viewers in the US, with US viewership peaking at over 30 million viewers.

[12/31/25 - 10:11 AM]
NFL on Prime's Christmas Night Showdown Between the Broncos and Chiefs Sets New Viewership Marks for "TNF"
The streamer's "Thursday Night Football" finale averaged 21.06 million viewers, peaking with 22.90 million.

[12/31/25 - 10:08 AM]
ESPN Delivered Largest Average NBA Christmas Audience Since 2018
The San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game in the 2:30 p.m. window became ESPN's most-watched NBA Christmas game in the timeslot since 2017, averaging 6.7 million viewers.

[12/30/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of December 22 - "Stranger Things 5" Runs Up That Hill to No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
At No. 2 on the list was "Emily in Paris" Season 5 with 13.3 million views.

[12/30/25 - 08:00 AM]
Aced It! ESPN Scored Most-Watched 2025 NCAA Women's College Volleyball Season on Record
The entirety of the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament finished up 13% year over year, averaging 666,000 viewers across the 15 matches and featured the most-watched Regionals on record.

[12/24/25 - 10:01 AM]
Dec. 20 Holiday Episode Ranks as #1 "Saturday Night Live" Telecast of the Season
Hosted by Ariana Grande with musical guest Cher, the episode drew 5.4 million viewers.