Shark Week Kicks Off with Stellar Ratings Sunday Night

-- Discovery Channel #1 Cable Network for the Night in Key Demos --

-- More than 11 Million Viewers* Tuned in to the 24th Annual SHARK WEEK Premieres --

(Silver Spring, Md. ) Discovery Channel's SHARK WEEK debuts with the highest Sunday night premiere delivery ever for a SHARK WEEK among, P/W18-34 (1.18M and 657K, respectively) and the highest premiere rating ever for a SHARK WEEK kick-off night among, W18-34 (2.25 AA%). Discovery Channel was the #1 network in all of television during primetime Sunday night for SHARK WEEK's premiere among P18-34 and #1 primetime (8P-11P) cable network for P/M/W18-49 and P/M/W18-34 ratings and delivery (#2 for P/M25-54, and #3 for W25-54, P/M2+, and P18+).

SHARK WEEK'S premiere program, GREAT WHITE INVASION, airing Sunday, July 31 at 9PM ET/PT, averaged 2.01 HH / 1.60 P25-54 AA% was the night's #3 primetime cable program for M25-54, P18-49, and M2+ delivery (#2 among P/M18-34). The one-hour special delivered more than 3.3 million viewers (P2+) Sunday night. JAWS COMES HOME which aired on Sunday at 10PM ET/PT averaged a 1.98 HH / 1.60 P25-54 rating, was Sunday's #1 primetime cable program for P18-49 and P/M18-34 ratings and delivery (#2 among M18-49, #3 among W18-49) and was watched by more than 3 million people (P2+).

SHARK WEEK also took a bite out of social media, generating over 300,000 related tweets on Sunday and nabbing the first through third place rankings on Trendrr's social TV charts - besting all cable and broadcast competitors. Additionally, GREAT WHITE INVASION, Discovery Channel and AIR JAWS all trended on Twitter during the evening, and fans checked into SHARK WEEK and the premiere specials in record numbers for Discovery on GetGlue. Fans can connect with SHARK WEEK year-round at facebook.com/sharkweek and on Twitter via @SharkWeek and #sharkweek .

SHARK WEEK, celebrating its 24th anniversary this year, is cable's longest-running programming event. Tonight viewers can tune in to KILLER SHARKS at 9PM ET/PT and find out what really happened in December 1957 on the tourist beaches in South Africa where a rash of unspeakable ocean attacks occurred and how it changed human/shark relations forever. On Wednesday night, follow Dave and Cody of DUAL SURVIVAL as they examine sharks' unique ferocity and the specialized methods of killing that make these animals the perfect predators in HOW SHARKS HUNT at 9PM ET/PT.

Source: NHI L+SD AA% and (000). *L+SD P2+, 1min qualifier, 9-11p.