Cable Ratings: ‘River Monsters' Brings Record Haul To Animal Planet

"Death Ray" episode draws 1.7 million total viewers

By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/27/2010 2:31:50 PM

The second season premiere of River Monsters on Animal Planet was the network's best season premiere ever among the key demos. 2009's surprise hit drew 1.7 million total viewers for the episode "Death Ray," including 971,000 P18-49 and 879,000 P25-54. The 25-54 demo numbers are the second best for any regular Animal Planet series, trailing only the April 2009 episode of River Monsters "Killer Catfish."

"Clearly, audiences have responded to the mysteries of the deep that Jeremy takes them on in River Monsters," said Marjorie Kaplan, president and general manager of Animal Planet Media in a statement.  "River Monsters isn't simply a fishing show... it's a murder mystery with intriguing characters and a storyline with multiple twists and turns.  And fans have been patient since it's been nearly a year since we've had fresh new monsters to find."

River Monsters stars angler Jeremy Wade traveling the world finding strange and unusual freshwater creatures. The premiere season in early 2009 became Animal Planet's breakout hit of the year, toppling ratings records.