Season Premiere of Discovery's DEADLIEST CATCH Sweeps Men 25-54

Last night's season premiere of Deadliest Catch was the #1 series in cable among Persons and Men 25-54 delivery (no exclusions) on Tuesday, April 16, 2013, beating all cable programs and multiple broadcast series on networks that included ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC. Discovery was also the #1 cable network in Prime among P/M25-54 and P/M18-49 delivery and increased viewership by +28% vs. last season's premiere.

DEADLIEST CATCH earned a 2.48 HH/2.25 P25-54/1.83 P18-49 and delivered 3.47 million viewers P2+ making it the #1 cable program among Persons (25-54/18-49) and Men 25-54 (no exclusions), beating most broadcast television series including: NBC's "Ready for Love," FOX's "Hell's Kitchen," "New Girl" and "Mindy Project," ABC's "Dancing with the Stars - Results Show," "Body of Proof" and "Splash," and CBS's "Golden By" and "NCIS: Los Angeles." It was also the #1 ad-supported cable program among P2+, P18+, P/M25-54 and P/M18-49 delivery, no exclusions.

DEADLIEST CATCH: THE LEGEND OF THE TIME BANDIT, a special which aired at 10 p.m. ET and followed the iconic Deadliest Catch boat The Time Bandit as it dry docks for summer repairs, earned a 2.27 HH/1.94 P25-54/1.44 P18-49 and delivered 2.97 total viewers P2+. It was the #2 program on Tuesday night behind only Deadliest Catch among both P/M 25-54 delivery (no exclusions).

DEADLIEST CATCH viewers are among the most passionate, and they took to Discovery.com and social media to deepen their engagement with the series. Online, fans have been signing up in droves for the new Deadliest Catch Fantasy Game over the past few weeks and, with last night's premiere, they sent their virtual crews out to sea to compete for bragging rights among fellow CATCH diehards. On Twitter, fans tweeted along with their favorite Captains and even had their Tweets featured live in the premiere of THE BAIT at 8pm ET. At the end of the night, Deadliest Catch was among the top 10 most social cable programs on Tuesday, according to Trendrr, and more than doubled the volume of conversation when compared with last season's premiere night.

Now in its ninth season on Discovery Channel, the multiple Emmy Award-winning series from Thom Beers' Original Productions, follows a group of seven skippers and their crew fighting through hell and back again in search of King and Opilio crab.

An all new Deadliest Catch premieres next Tuesday, April 23 at 9 PM E/P on Discovery.

Source: Nielsen. NHI Calendar. 4/16/13. Live+SD AA% and AA (000).

Discovery Channel is dedicated to creating the highest quality non-fiction content that informs and entertains its consumers about the world in all its wonder, diversity and amazement. The network, which is distributed to 100.8 million U.S. homes, can be seen in 210 countries and territories, offering a signature mix of compelling, high-end production values and vivid cinematography across genres including, science and technology, exploration, adventure, history and in-depth, behind-the-scenes glimpses at the people, places and organizations that shape and share our world. For more information, please visit www.discovery.com.

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