Discovery Communications Posts Ratings Gains and Milestones Among All Networks in May

June 2, 2009

(Silver Spring, Md.) In P25-54, Discovery Communications (DCI) portfolio of seven Nielsen rated networks continue to outpace broadcast and all non-DCI ad-supported cable May 09 vs. May 08, increasing 11.3% in primetime, nearly tripling non-DCI cable growth of 3.9%, while broadcast is down -10.2%.
DISCOVERY CHANNEL

Top ten destination for key male viewers every night of the week in May among M25-54 and 18-49;
#4 among M25-54 and 18-49, #5 among P25-54, and #6 among P18-49 and M18-34;
Second most watched network on Tuesdays in May among M25-54 (behind only TNT (NBA Playoffs) and P25-54;
On Wednesdays, #3 among M18-49 and 18-34, behind only TNT and ESPN, and #4 in M25-54;
"Deadliest Catch": #1 non-fiction series among M18-49 in May; #1 non-sports program on Tuesdays in P/M 25-54 and M18-49; #1 non-sports program of the month on Tuesdays.

TLC

#7 among W18-34; #8 among W25-54, 18-49 and 18-34;
Second most watched network among W18-49 and 18-34 on Monday nights;
Double-digit gains across all key demos vs. May 08:
P2+               +24% (974k vs. 788k)
P25-54      +20% (482k vs. 403k)
W25-54       +17% (309k vs. 263k)
P18-49       +18% (498k vs. 421k)
W18-49       +15% (329k vs. 285k)
Season premiere of "Jon & Kate Plus 8" (May 25) achieved the highest ever primetime delivery among P2+ (9.8 million), HH (6.6 million), P18-49 (6.1 million) and W18-49 (4.3 million) on TLC and was the #1 program of the night, beating all of broadcast and cable among HHs, all key Person and Women demos (25-54, 18-49 and 18-34) and #2 in M18-49 and 18-34 behind only the NBA Playoffs on ESPN. Premiere earned highest ever primetime delivery on any Discovery network among HHs, P18-49, W18-49, P18-34 (3.6 million) and W18-34 (2.6 million).
New Series:
"Cake Boss" (premiere May 25): 3.2 million P2+; #1 series premiere ever on TLC among W18-34 (828k); #4 in W18-34 for all of primetime in both broadcast and cable.
"Little Couple" (premiere May 26): double-digit increases in key women and person demos vs. TLC's prime premiere average.
Returning Series:
"American Chopper:" double-digits increases in key male demos vs. TLC's prime premiere average.
"What Not to Wear" (season premiere May 31): #1 non-sports program in W25-54; TLC was #3 in W25-54 and 18-49 for the night.

ANIMAL PLANET

Double-digit gains in all key demos vs. May 08:
P2+              +22% (555k vs. 456k)
P25-54       +45% (253k vs. 174k)
M25-54       +90% (137k vs. 72k)
W25-54       +14% (116k vs. 102k)
P18-49       +47% (243k vs. 165k)
Best ever May among HH (431k), P25-54, M25-54, P18-49, M18-49 (132k) and P18-34 (99k);
8 straight months of year-over-year growth among P25-54, M25-54, P18-49 and M18-49;
"River Monsters": best performing series in network history; averaging more than a million households (1.05M) and P2+ viewers (1.434M) across seven premieres. Network's most watched series ever among P25-54 (719k), M25-54 (455k), P18-49 (759k) and P18-34 (327k), and is the best series debut in network history in HH (1.02M) and P25-54 (647k).

INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY (ID.)

Posted sizeable gains in key demos vs. May 08:
P2+                +27% (188k vs. 148k)
P25-54          +33% (89k vs. 67k)
W25-54       +41% (55k vs. 39k)
P18-49          +13% (70k vs. 62k)
W18-49      +19% (44k vs. 37k)
16 consecutive months of year-over-year gains in HH (since launch in Jan. 08).

SCIENCE CHANNEL

Increases in all key demos vs. May 08:
P2+               +33% (170k vs. 128k)
P25-54       +13% (79k vs. 70k)
M25-54       +15% (53k vs. 46k)
P18-49       +16% (74k vs. 64k)
M18-49      +24% (52k vs. 42k)
9 consecutive months of year-over-year growth in P2+, HH's and P18-34.

MILITARY CHANNEL

Up +20% in P2+ (128k vs. 107k) and +23% in HHs (108k vs. 88k) vs. May 08;
34 months of consecutive year-over-year growth in HHs and 9 months in W25-54.

DISCOVERY HEALTH

Up in all key demos vs. May 08:
HH             +6% (185k vs. 174k)
P2+                +9% (231k vs. 211k)
P25-54          +7% (115k vs. 107k)
W25-54       +14% (83k vs. 73k)
W18-49       +4% (77k vs. 74k);.
3 consecutive months of double-digit year-over-year gains among W25-54.

All Data Based on Primetime Delivery and Among All Ad-Supported Cable Unless Otherwise Noted

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