Clearly, “Earth” stood to benefit from the renewed interest in all things green, and that it did. The series ended its run Sunday night with an Earth Day marathon of the show, and it finished as the most-watched program on basic cable for the week ended April 22.

The 9 p.m. finale episode of “Earth” averaged 5.57 million total viewers, topping ESPN’s Red Sox-Yankees game, which finished No. 2, by more than 100,000 viewers.

Three episodes of “Earth” that night finished in the top 13 for the week, including the 8 p.m. episode focused on forests and the 10 p.m. one entitled “Pole to Pole.” The 9 p.m. edition was about caves.

The effort put into the documentary was impressive. Seventy cameramen traveled to more than 2,000 locations around the globe, filming footage in high definition.

But what’s perhaps most interesting about “Planet” was its drawing power across demographics. These days there aren’t many shows, on broadcast or cable, that draw a broad audience of adult viewers.

There are usually only one or two shows that make the top 10 cable shows among adults 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54. “Earth” has made all three demos’ top 10 nearly every week since it premiered on March 25.

While most programs are narrowly targeted at either twentysomethings, like Adult Swim’s “Family Guy,” or fiftysomethings, like Discovery’s “Deadliest Catch,” there were elements of “Earth” that appealed to everyone.

The environmental aspect drew in the younger crowd, who’ve grown up in the age of recycling and global warming. Animal storylines likely spoke to the older folks, parents who, like the “Earth” animals, worry over protecting their children.

"Earth" was certainly helped by nearly universally favorable reviews. Media Life's Andrew Lyons wrote, “What makes this miniseries so impressive is its storytelling. No matter how striking the scenery is in a documentary, it’s always the narrative that holds viewers, and in ‘Planet Earth’ there are dozens of compelling narratives woven through.”

“Earth” seems likely to become an Earth Day staple and will probably be rerun by Discovery and its sister networks throughout the rest of the year. The tiny Science Channel, for example, has already aired part of “Earth” and drew its third-largest audience of the year.

Discovery says that more than 46 cumulative million viewers have watched the series, meaning they’ve caught at least 6 minutes of one show over the past month.

Meanwhile, in other cable ratings for the week ended April 22:

Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): USA, ESPN, TNT, Discovery, TBS

Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): USA, TNT, Fox News, ESPN, Discovery

Top movie (18-49s): USA’s “50 First Dates” (Sunday, 7 p.m.) 1.36 million

Top sporting event (total viewers): ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball: Red Sox vs. Yankees” (Sunday, 8 p.m.) 5.48 million

Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: USA’s “WWE Entertainment” (Monday, 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.); Discovery’s “Planet Earth” (Sunday, 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.); ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball: Red Sox vs. Yankees” (Sunday, 8 p.m.)

Show on the rise: ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball: Red Sox vs. Yankees,” Sunday 8 p.m. Baseball’s most heated rivalry drew the network’s best “SNB” ratings in three years.

Show on the decline: VH1’s “Charm School,” Sunday 10 p.m. Without an “I Love New York” lead-in, the network’s latest “Flavor of Love” spinoff plummeted in its second week, averaging 2.69 million total viewers, or barely half last week’s 5.09 million. It dropped out of the top 10 in all the major adult demos as well.