HISTORY's Hit Drama Series "VIKINGS" Captures 4.6 Million Total Viewers in Live +3 Delivery

Cable's #1 Show for the Night in Live +3 in all Key Demos and Total Viewers

New York, NY - February 24, 2015 - The season three premiere of HISTORY's hit scripted series VIKINGS raided 4.6 million total viewers, 2.4 million Adults 25-54 and 2.3 million Adults 18-49 in Live +3 delivery, ranking it as the #1 show on cable in Live +3 in all key demos and total viewers on Thursday, February 19.

"Vikings is a win-win for us as it performs on all levels and is attracting both critical acclaim and a ton of buzz," said Dirk Hoogstra, EVP and General Manager, HISTORY and H2. "We're gearing up for the launch of Texas Rising, our next big scripted event premiering in May and we have a robust development pipeline that I'm very excited about."

In terms of History.com visits, VIKINGS ranks as the best HISTORY season premiere of all time. The season three premiere on February 19 helped drive 1.1 million unique total visitors on history.com ranking it as the second best day on record.

The 10-episode season begins with Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) as King and follows the great responsibility that now rests on the shoulders of the former farmer. The gripping family saga of Ragnar, Rollo (Clive Standen), Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) and Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig) continues as alliances and loyal friendships are questioned, faith is catechized and relationships are strained. VIKINGS tells the extraordinary tales of the lives and epic adventures of these warriors and portrays life in the Dark Ages through the eyes of Viking society.

Created and written by Michael Hirst - one of the premier historical story-tellers in the industry (Academy-Award winning film Elizabeth; and the Emmy and Golden Globe nominated series The Tudors), Michael serves as Executive Producer along with Morgan O'Sullivan of World 2000 (The Count of Monte Cristo; The Tudors), Sheila Hockin (The Tudors; The Borgias), John Weber of Take 5 Productions (The Tudors; The Borgias), Sherry Marsh, Alan Gasmer and James Flynn (The Tudors; The Borgias). Dirk Hoogstra and Julian P. Hobbs are the Executives in Charge of Production for HISTORY.

VIKINGS is an international Irish/Canadian co-production being co-produced by World 2000 and Take 5 Productions. HISTORY broadcasts domestically in the U.S. MGM Television brought the series to the network and brings VIKINGS to the global audience, serving as the worldwide distributor outside of Ireland and Canada. VIKINGS is produced in association with Shaw Media, and the series also airs on HISTORY in Canada.

About HISTORY(R)

HISTORY(R), now reaching more than 96 million homes, is the leading destination for award-winning original series and specials that connect viewers with history in an informative, immersive and entertaining manner across all platforms. The network's all-original programming slate, including scripted event programming, features a roster of hit series including American Pickers(R), American Restoration(TM), Ax Men(TM), Counting Cars(TM), Pawn Stars(R) and Swamp People(R) as well as HISTORY(R)'s first scripted series Vikings, and epic miniseries and special programming such as The Bible, The Men Who Built America and the Emmy(R) Award-winning Hatfields & McCoys, Gettysburg, Vietnam in HD, America The Story of Us(R) and 102 Minutes That Changed America. The HISTORY(R) website is the leading online resource for all things history, and in 2011, the United States Library of Congress selected HISTORY(R)'s Civil War 150 site for inclusion in the historic collection of Internet materials related to the American Civil War sesquicentennial. www.history.com.