Cavemen and crocodiles scored for Discovery Networks U.S. last week.
The premiere airing of Discovery Channel's special, Walking with
Cavemen, June 15 averaged a 3.7 household rating from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.,
translating into 3.2 million households and 4.8 million viewers.
That performance made it the most-watched documentary on basic cable thus far
in 2003, the 10th-highest-rated show in the network's history and
Discovery's biggest with Nielsen Media Research households since the December
2001 debut of Walking with Prehistoric Beasts.
The show, the highest-rated show on basic cable that night, also generated a
2.1 among rating among adults 25-54. All told, some 14.7 million people tuned
into some portion of the show's three airings last Sunday night at 8 p.m., 10
p.m. and midnight.
Animal Planet, meanwhile, benefited from its "Crocodile Hunter Live." The
programming stunt, airing 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. June 10-13, averaged a 1.1 and a 0.7
among the network's 25-54 target audience. Those performances tied "Croc Week
2000" for the best in the stunt's five-year history.
Crocodile Hunter Live boosted Animal Planet to a 0.8 household rating
(870,000 households) June 9-15 and a 0.5 among adults 25-54, marking the
channel's third best week in households and second-highest ever with that
demo.
On average, 1.3 million viewers joined host Steve Irwin as he got up close
and personal with assorted crocodiles, a 50% jump over last year and the
network's best-ever for the stunt.
