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[08/03/18 - 12:51 PM]
Discovery Channel's 30th Anniversary of Shark Week Swims to Ratings Success as Cable's #1 Network in Prime Among All 25-54s, 18-49s and 18-34s
Discovery Channel further spins the numbers for the programming stunt to date.
[via press release from Discovery Channel]

DISCOVERY CHANNEL'S 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF SHARK WEEK SWIMS TO RATINGS SUCCESS AS CABLE'S #1 NETWORK IN PRIME AMONG ALL 25-54s, 18-49s and 18-34s

(Los Angeles) - SHARK WEEK, television's longest-running and most anticipated summer event made a huge ratings splash for its 30th anniversary, topping both last year's SHARK WEEK and SHARK WEEK 2016 in Primetime across adults, men, and women 25-54 and 18-49, as well as among adults, men, and women 25-54, P/W18-49, and W18-34 in Total Day. The 30th installment of shark programming scored double-digit increases over both years among key demos including P25-54 (+15% vs. 2017 & +22% vs. 2016) and helped Discovery rank as the top network on all of TV in Prime during the week - beating the broadcast networks - among M18-49 and M18-34. Driven by SHARK WEEK 2018, Discovery finished the month of July up +9% over last July in key P25-54 and P18-49 and topped July 2017 across all 25-54s, all 18-49s, and all 18-34s.

After three decades and hundreds of shows, SHARK WEEK 2018 ranked as the 4th-highest rated SHARK WEEK on record (behind 2013-2015) across all 25-54s and 18-49s in Prime and among P/M25-54 and P/W18-49 in Total Day. In addition, this year's SHARK WEEK ranked as the 2nd-highest rated SHARK WEEK on record (behind 2015) among W25-54 in Total Day and reached 34.9M Total viewers across Total Day. In Prime, the week of July 23rd was the network's highest-rated week since SHARK WEEK 2015 across P/W25-54, P/W18-49, and W18-34.

For 30 years, SHARK WEEK has dominated ratings showing no signs of slowing down and during SHARK WEEK 2018, Discovery was cable's #1 network in Prime across all 25-54s, all 18-49s, and all 18-34s. In Total Day, the network also owned the top cable spot across all 25-54s and W18-49 during the week. During SHARK WEEK 2018, Discovery claimed 8 of cable's Top 10 non-sports telecasts with SHAQ DOES SHARK WEEK (#1), RONDA ROUSEY UNCAGED (#2), GREAT WHITE ABYSS (#3), LAWS OF JAWS (#4), AIR JAWS: THE HUNTED (#5), CUBA'S SECRET SHARK LAIR (#6), BEAR VS SHARK (#8) and GUY FIERI'S FEEDING FRENZY (#10) among M18-49. NAKED AND AFRAID OF SHARKS was the highest-rated episode of the series among key P25-54 since the season 3 finale in May 2017. The return of SHARK AFTER DARK and its live format ranked #2 in its cable time period across P/M25-54, all 18-49s, and M18-34.

SHARK WEEK engaged fans across multiple platforms and reached 48 million users across Facebook and Instagram. The week also garnered 3.5 million streams across all Discovery GO (DGO) digital platforms, peaking on Tuesday, July 24th, which became the #1 most-streamed day in DGO history. Overall, SHARK WEEK 2018 pushed DGO to its four best days ever.

Source: The Nielsen Company, Live+3 program-based strict daypart coverage area data, excl. breakouts (starts within, no exclusions for "best ever" stories, reach, and TC ranks). Su-Sa for Shark Week except reach is Su-Su (2nd Sunday is Live+SD). Ranks based on 000s, "best ever" stories and % change based on ratings. Total Day is 9a-3a for all but TC ranks and reach which use 6a-6a. Reach uses 6-min. qualifier.





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