Animal Planet Orders Season 7 of RIVER MONSTERS

Animal Planet's best-performing series in network history for six consecutive seasons, RIVER MONSTERS, has been renewed for a seventh season. The announcement was made at the conclusion of last night's episode of "Bone Crusher," which kicked off the network's third annual MONSTER WEEK. The nine-day monster marathon is from May 18-26, featuring the world premiere of BLOOD LAKE: ATTACK OF THE KILLER LAMPREYS.

Biologist and extreme angler Jeremy Wade made the announcement while filming from an undisclosed location in Asia saying the series would return in 2015 with more episodes. Wade also mentioned he will make a cameo in the upcoming BLOOD LAKE.

The sixth season finale of River Monsters airs next Memorial Day Monday, May 26 at 9 PM (ET/PT) with "Body Snatcher," an episode in which Wade investigates rumors of a body-snatching spirit and predatory freshwater mermaid that is said to drag men deep into the river, never to be seen again.

RIVER MONSTERS debuted last month with its most-watched-season premiere and also ranked as the most-watched network season premiere among key demos (975K P18-49, 639K M18-49, 605K P18-34 and 595K M25-54). The two-hour opener, "Amazon Apocalypse," caught 1.7M P2+ viewers. In April, premieres of River Monsters lifted Animal Planet to rank among the top 5 ad-supported cable network in the Sun 10 PM timeslot based on M18-49 rating (excludes sports).

Animal Planet's River Monsters is a weekly murder mystery that follows Wade's worldwide search for harrowing stories of killer fish and his quest to prove if these freshwater mysteries are tall tales or frightening facts. Searching for a variety of aquatic attackers while navigating the globe's waterways, Wade has taken his life-long passion and turned it into a full-time career. Wade's River Monsters quests have him diving and reeling in fascinating and mysterious creatures - all alleged man killers!

RIVER MONSTERS is a co-production of Icon Films and Animal Planet. Harry and Laura Marshall are the executive producers for Icon Films, and Andie Clare is the series producer. For Animal Planet, Lisa Lucas is the executive producer, and Patrick Keegan is the producer. River Monsters is created by Charlie Foley, executive Vice president of the Original Content Group and head of Animal Planet development.

The first four seasons of River Monsters are available for purchase at AnimalPlanetStore.com. All five seasons are available for download at iTunes and Amazon Instant Video. Wade's book, River Monsters: True Stories of the Ones that Didn't Get Away, is in bookstores.

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 US; online assets www.animalplanet.com, the ultimate online destination for all things animal; Animal Planet L!VE, the go-to digital destination for round-the-clock, unfiltered access to the animal kingdom; and other media platforms, including a robust Video-on-Demand (VOD) service and merchandising extensions.

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