Planet Earth Delivers for Discovery

Planet Earth, the new miniseries on the Discovery Channel and Discovery HD Theater, debuted with strong ratings Sunday night.

The show averaged 5.7 million viewers over the three hour premiere, peaking during the 9 p.m. presentation of the “Mountains” episode, with 6.1 million viewers. The show brought in 12 million viewers total over the three hour period and had a 3.6 HH rating, the networks third highest ever.

According to TNS media research’s set top box data in a major market, the Discovery HD Theater presentation of Planet Earth increased the program’s overall household rating by 15%. An estimated 500,000 homes watched the program in HD over the three hour period.

Discovery and Discovery HD Theater will air two new episodes of Planet Earth every Sunday, beginning at 8 p.m., for the next four weeks.