Animal Planet's PUPPY BOWL X Earns Record 13.5 Million Viewers

It was a Super Bowl Sunday blowout on many levels: the Seattle Seahawks crushed the Denver Broncos; and Animal Planet annihilated all its competition as Puppy Bowl X took the ball and ran, scoring a whopping 13.5 million unique P2+ viewers throughout the 12-hour marathon - its largest audience ever!

For its 10th milestone marathon, Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl X celebrates America's love of football, marrying the nation's number-one sport with our adoration for puppies. Puppy Bowl X's competitive pups scored consecutive touchdowns in the premiere telecast from 3-5 PM ET/PT and brought in 3.3M P2+ viewers (+24% vs. YAGO) and was the number-one telecast in all of cable on Sunday for P2+ viewers, HH (2.1M) and W18-49 (754K). For the second year in a row, the premiere also helped Animal Planet rank #1 in the timeslot among all cable and #2 in all of TV (behind FOX) across major key demos, including P18-49 (1.3M), P25-54 (1.2M) and W18-49 (754K).

The most socially charged show in all television (second only to Super Bowl), Puppy Bowl X achieved a social media trifecta. Puppy Bowl X dominated Twitter, generating more than 340,000 tweets in its premiere telecast, trended on Facebook throughout the day and witnessed an estimated 150,000 #PuppyBowl Instagram pics in the network's first-ever live Instagram integration, which featured viewers and their pets on air in real time. Several celebrities joined in on the Puppy Bowl fun, including Ricky Gervais, Rob Lowe, Lindsey Vonn, Pam Grier and Sean Astin, who naturally gave his support to the #PlayRudy movement. Even President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, with First Dogs Bo and Sunny, got in on the social action!

In the digital sphere, Puppy Bowl X earned its barking rights, as AnimalPlanet.com welcomed more than half a million unique visitors (+15% vs. YAGO) on game day, with year-over-year video streams up 40 percent and page views increasing 22 percent. Game-day success was driven by an unprecedented lineup of adorable and addictive content - from the first-ever Puppy Bowl Fantasy Game and Most Valuable Puppy (MVP) poll to photo galleries and compelling video, including Puppy Profiles and Adoption Tails.

ABOUT Puppy Bowl X

PUPPY BOWL returned for its 10th anniversary milestone on Sunday, February 2, as the most anticipated and cutest sporting event of the season. The 12-hour marathon event lined up a first-string, all-adorable cast itching to play in a winning combination of terrier tackles, canine touchdowns, puppy penalties and Fido first downs. Animal Planet's GEICO Stadium set the scene for the most incredible Puppy Bowl ever, complete with brand-new features, including interactive BISSELL(R) MVP fan voting and an online Fantasy Puppy League. To commemorate its centennial, Puppy Bowl X followed up with some of the most famous faces in the history of puppy sports, relived timeless Puppy Bowl memories and amped up its BISSELL(R) KITTY HALF-TIME SHOW with the musical stylings of Internet sensation Keyboard Cat. Even fellow feline celebrity and VIP super fan Lil BUB showed her support while a parade of penguins waddled and cheered from the sidelines. Furry first responders, representing police dogs across the New York region, participated in the National Anthem ceremony, and a group of rowdy canines watched the action from an all-new doggie tailgate party. Meanwhile, viewers were treated to favorite features from previous Puppy Bowl games, including the Water Bowl Cam, the Kiss Cam sponsored by SUBARU, the slow-motion "Too Cute" Cam and an aerial view of the field provided by the TWIZZLERS(R) blimp and its hamster pilots. Sideline reporter @MeepTheBird chirped out live updates from inside the stadium.

Almost all of the animals featured in Puppy Bowl X have been adopted and came rescue groups and shelters across the United States and Puerto Rico.

PUPPY BOWL X and the BISSELL(R) KITTY HALF-TIME SHOW are produced by Discovery Studios for Animal Planet. For Discovery Studios, John Tomlin is the executive producer, and Michael Masland is the Vice president of development. For Animal Planet, Melinda Toporoff is the executive producer, and Pat Dempsey is the associate producer.

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