Animal Planet’s Monster Week 2013 and new “Mermaids” special deliver monster ratings

Animal Planet‘s recently concluded Monster Week 2013, its second annual Monster Week, proved to be a ratings beast for the network as the programming stunt scored Animal Planet’s most-watched week ever in prime, with 1.1 million P2+ viewers, and in both prime and total day among other major demos, including HH (743,000; 428,000) and M25-54 (295,000; 154,000).

Monster Week 2013 was buoyed by the premiere of Mermaids: The New Evidence on May 26. Mermaids: The New Evidence was the follow-up to last year’s Animal Planet hit Mermaids: The Body Found, and purported to reveal new evidence of mermaids that has come forward in the last year, in addition to interviews with Dr. Paul Robertson, a former NOAA scientist who led last year’s investigation, and journalist Jon Frankel.

Mermaids: The New Evidence was Animal Planet’s No. 1 most-watched telecast of all time, with the premiere delivering 3.6 million P2+ viewers. Animal Planet was also the No. 1 network in all of television for the timeslot among P25-54 and W25-54 delivery, earning 1.9 million P25-54 and 809,000 W25-54 viewers (excluding sports on FOX and TNT). The special drove Animal Planet’s best nightly delivery ever, earning 2.8 million P2+ viewers.

In terms of ratings numbers, Mermaids: The New Evidence became Animal Planet’s No. 1 telecast of all time among Households with a 2.5 rating; M25-54 with a 2.2 rating; P25-54 with a 1.9 rating; M18-49 with a 1.7 rating; P18-49 and W18-49 both with a 1.6 rating. It outpaced the network’s previous record-setting, the 2005 special Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real with 2.8 million viewers.

Additionally, Mermaids: The New Evidence saw massive traffic online, generating more than 1.5 million streams of Mermaids-related video since Sunday evening — triple the volume seen with the first special.

Needless to say, Animal Planet executives are thrilled. “The phenomenon of Mermaids has truly been a watershed — and a watercooler — moment for Animal Planet,” said Marjorie Kaplan, president and general manager of the network.

All in all, Monster Week 2013 and Mermaids: The New Evidence helped put the icing on a terrific May for Animal Planet, a month in which it achieved its most-watched month ever in prime among key demos, including 361,000 P25-54; 344,000 P18-49; 200,000 M25-54; and 185,000 M18-49. In May, Animal Planet also earned its best-ever May prime delivery, including 775,000 P2+ viewers, and racked up its fifth consecutive month of placing as a top-20 ad-supported cable network (No. 15 in May).

Rick Holzman, senior vice president of programming and scheduling for Animal Planet, thinks his network’s May success can carry over into upcoming months.

“I expect the momentum to carry Animal Planet well into summer,” said Holzman, “when we premiere Treehouse Masters and Top Hooker, and bring back Call of the Wildman and Too Cute!

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Credit: Animal Planet