ANIMAL PLANET ANNOUNCES NEW SEASON OF "THE POOL MASTER" AFTER MAKING BIG SPLASH WITH SERIES PREMIERE

-- Series Premiere Performs Swimmingly with More Than One Million Viewers--

(June 24, 2014 - Silver Spring, Md.) - Today, Animal Planet announces the renewal of hit frosh series, THE POOL MASTER, to return Spring 2015 with six new episodes plus an additional special. This announcement comes on the heels of the series' successful series-premiere performance.

THE POOL MASTER, which features the stunning creations of natural swimming pool designer and sculptor Anthony Archer-Wills, pulled in strong numbers this past Friday at 9 PM among all major demos, including 1M P2+ viewers, 704K HH, 421K P25-54, 408K P18-49, 224K M25-54, 204K M18-49 and 203K W18-49.

The series opener helped Animal Planet rank fourth among all ad-supported cable networks in the timeslot among M25-54 and M18-49, excluding movies and sports.

THE POOL MASTER is produced for Animal Planet by Punch Drunk and Original Media with Rob Hill and Daniel Laikind as executive producers and Matthew J. Braley as showrunner executive producer. Executive producer for Animal Planet is Lisa Lucas, and Patrick Keegan is producer. Kurt Tondorf is vice President of development for Animal Planet.

NOW CASTING for homeowners who are ready for the pool of their dreams! Animal Planet and Original Media are seeking those who wish to have their backyards transformed by world-famous, expert pool designer Anthony Archer-Wills! If your family would love this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, visit: http://www.originalmediacastingportal.com/thepoolmaster.

Animal Planet, 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. Animal Planet 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.