“Planet Earth,” the Discovery Channel’s 11-part documentary meant to capture the natural wonders all around us, began filming five years ago, well before the current trend toward environmental consciousness that last year boosted “An Inconvenient Truth” to a huge box office tally.
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.
|
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Ranked on Household Rating
Week Ending April 22 |
|
Rank |
Primetime |
Total Day |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1 |
USA |
1814 |
NICK |
1593 |
|
2 |
TNT |
1525 |
NAN * |
1030 |
|
3 |
FOXN |
1411 |
ADSM* |
1018 |
|
4 |
ESPN |
1342 |
TNT |
964 |
|
5 |
DISC |
1148 |
USA |
962 |
|
6 |
CNN |
1105 |
FOXN |
917 |
|
7 |
TBSC |
1094 |
TOON |
836 |
|
8 |
AEN |
1086 |
LIF |
747 |
|
9 |
TOON |
1081 |
CNN |
696 |
|
10 |
LIF |
1069 |
TBSC |
667 |
|
11 |
NAN |
1034 |
AEN |
646 |
|
12 |
SPK |
882 |
DISC |
625 |
|
13 |
FX |
881 |
ESPN |
609 |
|
14 |
HGTV |
867 |
HIST |
508 |
|
15 |
TVLD |
840 |
CORT |
499 |
|
16 |
CORT |
826 |
SPK |
496 |
|
17 |
TLC |
822 |
HGTV |
493 |
|
18 |
HIST |
801 |
HALL |
491 |
|
19 |
HALL |
799 |
TVLD |
480 |
|
20 |
SCIF |
785 |
FAM |
475 |
|
21 |
FAM |
714 |
FX |
470 |
|
22 |
CMDY |
710 |
CMDY |
450 |
|
23 |
VH1 |
665 |
FOOD |
443 |
|
24 |
MTV |
611 |
MTV |
411 |
|
25 |
AMC |
587 |
TLC |
407 |
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
|
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE PROGRAMS
Ranked on Households
Week Ending April 22 |
|
Rank |
Program |
Net |
(000) |
|
1 |
Yankees/Red Sox |
ESPN |
3952 |
|
2 |
WWE Entertainment |
USA |
3443 |
|
3 |
WWE Entertainment |
USA |
3403 |
|
4 |
Planet Earth |
DISC |
3262 |
|
5 |
Planet Earth |
DISC |
2955 |
|
6 |
Spongebob |
NICK |
2810 |
|
7 |
Law & Order: SVU |
USA |
2806 |
|
8 |
Spongebob |
NICK |
2796 |
|
9 |
Spongebob |
NICK |
2784 |
|
10 |
The O'Reilly Factor |
FOXN |
2758 |
|
11 |
Spongebob |
NICK |
2694 |
|
12 |
Spongebob |
NICK |
2562 |
|
13 |
Fairly Odd Parents |
NICK |
2529 |
|
14 |
Family Guy |
ADSM |
2522 |
|
15 |
Drake & Josh |
NICK |
2518 |
|
16 |
Fairly Odd Parents |
NICK |
2454 |
|
17 |
House |
USA |
2446 |
|
18 |
Spongebob |
NICK |
2442 |
|
19 |
Ned Declassified |
NICK |
2434 |
|
20 |
Drake & Josh |
NICK |
2424 |
|
21 |
Warriors/Mavericks |
TNT |
2414 |
|
22 |
Your World W/Neil Cavuto |
FOXN |
2413 |
|
23 |
Ned Declassified |
NICK |
2403 |
|
24 |
Spongebob |
NICK |
2391 |
|
25 |
Jimmy Neutron |
NICK |
2347 |
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending April 22 |
|
Rank |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1 |
ESPN |
507 |
ADSM* |
504 |
|
2 |
USA |
497 |
NICK |
338 |
|
3 |
TNT |
427 |
TNT |
286 |
|
4 |
DISC |
416 |
USA |
276 |
|
5 |
TBSC |
392 |
ESPN |
267 |
|
6 |
FX |
370 |
NAN * |
264 |
|
7 |
SPK |
367 |
TBSC |
257 |
|
8 |
CMDY |
365 |
CMDY |
233 |
|
9 |
VH1 |
354 |
DISC |
223 |
|
10 |
MTV |
334 |
MTV |
213 |
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending April 22 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1 |
Family Guy |
ADSM |
1527 |
|
2 |
Yankees/Red Sox |
ESPN |
1475 |
|
3 |
South Park |
CMDY |
1451 |
|
4 |
Family Guy |
ADSM |
1347 |
|
5 |
Planet Earth |
DISC |
1342 |
|
6 |
WWE Entertainment |
USA |
1300 |
|
7 |
Real World XVIII |
MTV |
1297 |
|
8 |
Planet Earth |
DISC |
1268 |
|
9 |
WWE Entertainment |
USA |
1240 |
|
10 |
UFC 70: Nations Collide |
SPK |
1229 |
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-49
Week Ending April 22 |
|
Rank |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1 |
USA |
1076 |
ADSM* |
624 |
|
2 |
ESPN |
927 |
TNT |
600 |
|
3 |
TNT |
925 |
USA |
569 |
|
4 |
DISC |
875 |
NICK |
528 |
|
5 |
TBSC |
743 |
TBSC |
468 |
|
6 |
FX |
683 |
NAN * |
464 |
|
7 |
AEN |
677 |
ESPN |
447 |
|
8 |
SPK |
672 |
DISC |
443 |
|
9 |
TLC |
582 |
LIF |
398 |
|
10 |
CMDY |
567 |
AEN |
385 |
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 18-49
Week Ending April 22 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1 |
Yankees/Red Sox |
ESPN |
2772 |
|
2 |
Planet Earth |
DISC |
2667 |
|
3 |
WWE Entertainment |
USA |
2524 |
|
4 |
WWE Entertainment |
USA |
2396 |
|
5 |
Planet Earth |
DISC |
2378 |
|
6 |
South Park |
CMDY |
2215 |
|
7 |
Deadliest Catch |
DISC |
2086 |
|
8 |
UFC 70: Nations Collide |
SPK |
1986 |
|
9 |
Family Guy |
ADSM |
1917 |
|
10 |
Warriors/Mavericks |
TNT |
1835 |
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 25-54
Week Ending April 22 |
|
|
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Rank |
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1 |
USA |
1037 |
TNT |
580 |
|
2 |
TNT |
974 |
USA |
548 |
|
3 |
DISC |
867 |
DISC |
428 |
|
4 |
ESPN |
824 |
NICK |
418 |
|
5 |
AEN |
690 |
LIF |
416 |
|
6 |
TBSC |
658 |
AEN |
397 |
|
7 |
FX |
593 |
NAN * |
397 |
|
8 |
SPK |
591 |
TBSC |
391 |
|
9 |
TLC |
573 |
ESPN |
375 |
|
10 |
LIF/SCI FI |
553 |
FOXN |
364 |
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 25-54
Week Ending April 22 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1 |
Yankees/Red Sox |
ESPN |
2571 |
|
2 |
Planet Earth |
DISC |
2559 |
|
3 |
WWE Entertainment |
USA |
2420 |
|
4 |
WWE Entertainment |
USA |
2272 |
|
5 |
Planet Earth |
DISC |
2237 |
|
6 |
Deadliest Catch |
DISC |
2079 |
|
7 |
Planet Earth |
DISC |
1705 |
|
8 |
Nuggets/Spurs |
TNT |
1630 |
|
9 |
House |
USA |
1613 |
|
10 |
Warriors/Mavericks |
TNT |
1601 |
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research based on data from Nielsen Media Research. |
