Discovery's Coverage of the Live Red Bull Stratos Mission Produces Big Ratings Win

Discovery Channel's ratings reached sky-high proportions with Discovery News' live coverage of the Red Bull Stratos mission on Sunday, October 14th. The broadcast titled SPACE JUMP LIVE became the highest-rated, non-prime program ever in Discovery Channel's history. Austrian extreme sport athlete Felix Baumgartner and his record-breaking jump generated 7.6 million total viewers (P2+ cume) and an average of 4.21 million viewers P2+ to become the #1 non-prime program across all television among persons 25-54 (excluding sports).

Discovery Channel's broadcast of Discovery News' SPACE JUMP LIVE on Sunday, October 14th from 9 AM - 4 PM ET/PT was the #1 non-prime, non-sports cable program among p25-54 and p18-49 and #1 among M/W25-54 and M/W18-49 delivery. The live, full broadcast earned a 2.72 HH / 2.02 P25-54 AA% on Discovery Channel. In addition, Discovery Channel's airing of SPACE JUMP LIVE marked Discovery's highest-rated telecast among P/M18-34 delivery in all dayparts this year, including primetime, and the highest-rated weekend daytime (9a-7p) program in Discovery Channel's history among P/M/W25-54 and P/M/W18-49 delivery.

Discovery Channel was also at the forefront of the social media conversation, with "Discovery Channel" trending on Twitter among Stratos-related hashtags and topics. Throughout the preparation and jump Discovery News Space Producer Dr. Ian O'Neill live-Tweeted the event, providing his expert insight. Discovery Channel's Facebook page garnered tens of thousands of likes, comments and shares, as viewers explored the mission more deeply through Discovery News' online Wide Angle coverage

Velocity's broadcast of SPACE JUMP LIVE attracted nearly one million P2+ viewers (991,000), making it the network's highest-rated telecast ever and ranking it in the top 20 (18th) for M25-54 ratings in all of cable.

According to Discovery News, Felix Baumgartner broke several records including the highest jump from a platform at 128,100 feet (39,043.88 kilometers), the longest free-fall distance at 119,846 feet (36,529.06 meters) and a maximum vertical velocity at 833.9 mph (1342.03 kmh) or Mach 1.24. In addition, Felix Baumgartner's historic jump occurred on the 65th anniversary of the first supersonic flight.

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