Animal Planet's 'River Monsters' Reels In Record Viewership

Animal Planet's April 25 season premiere of sophomore series River Monsters drew record viewership among key demos.
The series, which follows extreme angler Jeremy Wade as he hunts for unusual and dangerous freshwater creatures, drew 971,000 adults 18-49 and 879,000 adults 25-54 - both records for a series premiere, according to network officials. Overall, the season two premiere episode drew 1.7 million total viewers.
"Clearly, audiences have responded to the mysteries of the deep that Jeremy takes them on in River Monsters," said Marjorie Kaplan, president and general manager of Animal Planet Media in a statement. "River Monsters isn't simply a fishing show... it's a murder mystery with intriguing characters and a storyline with multiple twists and turns. And fans have been patient since it's been nearly a year since we've had fresh new monsters to find."

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.