WASHINGTON, April 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Country music crooning couldn’t deter wicked good ratings for National Geographic Channel’s new series Wicked Tuna last night.  Its premiere Sunday, April 1, at 10 p.m. ET/PT became the network’s highest-rated Sunday night telecast since New Year’s Day, averaging P25–54 0.6 rating — nearly double the Sunday 10 p.m. average for the past six weeks.

More than one million total viewers over age 2, including 584,000 viewers in the key P25–54 demo, tuned in to the premiere.  In Boston, the series was a hit, with a 1.0 HH rating; and in Minneapolis, the home state of a thousand lakes, the series earned a 1.5 HH rating.

This follows the success earlier this spring of the series Doomsday Preppers (on Americans preparing for the end of the world as we know it), which became the highest-rated Tuesday night telecasts in the channel’s 11-year history when it kicked off on Tuesday, February 7, with both episodes (Bullets, Lots of Bullets; and I Hope I Am Crazy) averaging P25–54 0.8 ratings.

Each episode of the 10-part series Wicked Tuna takes viewers into the unrelenting New England waters made famous by the novel “The Perfect Storm,” to follow captains who must prove they can find the big fish while complying with the strictest fishing regulations in the world.  They are relied upon by their families, by their shipmates who dream of one day having their own boats and by the town that depends on their collective success to sustain itself.

NGC launched its largest cross-platform premiere in network history for Wicked Tuna — pre-premiering the first episode in its entirety through cross-platform partners Facebook, iTunes and Dish Network as well as through video on demand and on www.natgeotv.com.

The network also launched a multitiered effort to help audiences become more knowledgeable about the bluefin tuna story, including PSAs and a dedicated website at www.natgeotv.com/wickedtuna.

Wicked Tuna continues Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

Wicked Tuna is produced for National Geographic Channel by Pilgrim Studios.  For Pilgrim Studios, producers are Audrey Olsen, Mitch Monzon, Leigh Purinton, Buddy Mickle, Dustin Rubin, Michael Goldstein and Anthony Lacques, and executive producers are Craig Piligian and Mike Nichols.  For National Geographic Channel, executive producer is Lynn Sadofsky and executive vice president of programming is Michael Cascio.

Ratings Source:  Nielsen Media, Sunday 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM, Live+SD

National Geographic Channels

Based at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Channels US are a joint venture between National Geographic and Fox Cable Networks.  The Channels contribute to the National Geographic Society’s commitment to exploration, conservation and education with smart, innovative programming and profits that directly support its mission.  Launched in January 2001, National Geographic Channel (NGC) celebrated its fifth anniversary with the debut of NGC HD.  In 2010, the wildlife and natural history cable channel Nat Geo WILD was launched, and in 2011, the Spanish-language network Nat Geo Mundo was unveiled.  The Channels have carriage with all of the nation’s major cable, telco and satellite television providers, with NGC currently available in 83 million U.S. homes.  Globally, National Geographic Channel is available in 435 million homes in 173 countries and 37 languages.  For more information, visit www.natgeotv.com.

SOURCE National Geographic Channel

New 8-Part Series BIG SHRIMPIN’ Debuts Thursday, November 17, at 10 p.m. (ET) on HISTORY(R)

New York, NY, October 31, 2011 – For the shrimpers of Bayou La Batre, Alabama, mining the waters for tiny pieces of “saltwater gold” is a treacherous, 24/7 job. But there’s more to shrimping than bringing in the day’s haul. History is made daily as they fight to save a uniquely American way of life.

BIG SHRIMPIN’, a new 8-part series premiering Thursday, November 17, at 10 p.m. on HISTORY(R), follows a group of longtime employees of Dominick Ficarino, owner of the most successful business in Bayou La Batre, Dominick’s Seafood. Over the course of several months, the captains and crews of three of Dominick’s boats show what it takes to shrimp and demonstrate how something so little can create such big problems. Working 40 days at a stretch and sometimes 48 hours straight, the crews battle unforgiving elements, equipment breakdowns, injuries, competing boats and even each other.

There is deep history within the tradition of American shrimping. Born and raised in the shrimping industry, Dominick’s fourth generation family business is determined to rebound from the widespread devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf oil spill. At a time when close to 90% of the shrimp in America comes from outside the U.S., he’s fighting to keep the industry alive.

Dominick’s loyal crews are willing to risk it all to sustain their way of life and keep Bayou La Batre afloat. Captain Redbone, 35 years in the business, is the one Dominick depends on to haul in the most shrimp. At 32, Captain Bullfrog, the “shrimp whisperer,” is Dominick’s youngest captain. Captain Roundhead claims he was once the best in the biz, but he’s had some hard seasons and is looking for redemption. Away from home and family for months at a time, these pros never stop, never give in, and never give up.

BIG SHRIMPIN’ is produced for HISTORY by Pilgrim Studios. Craig Piligian and Eddie Rohwedder are Executive Producers and David Barsky is Co-Executive Producer for Pilgrim Studios. Susan Werbe is Executive Producer for HISTORY.

HISTORY(R) and HISTORY(R) HD are the leading destinations for revealing, award-winning original non-fiction series and event specials that connect history with viewers in an informative, immersive and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. Programming covers a diverse variety of historical genres ranging from military history to contemporary history, technology to natural history, as well as science, archaeology and pop culture. Among the network’s program offerings are hit series such as American Pickers, Ax Men, American Restoration, Ice Road Truckers, Top Gear, Pawn Stars and Top Shot, as well as acclaimed specials including Gettysburg, America the Story of Us, WWII in HD, 102 Minutes That Changed America and Life After People. HISTORY has earned four Peabody Awards, seven Primetime Emmy(R) Awards, 12 News & Documentary Emmy(R) Awards and received the prestigious Governor’s Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network’s Save Our History(R) campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. Take a Veteran to School Day is the network’s signature initiative connecting America’s schools and communities with veterans from all wars. The HISTORY website, located at www.history.com, is the leading online resource for all things history, featuring over 20,000 videos, images, audio clips, articles and interactive features that allow visitors to dig deeper into a broad range of thousands of historical topics.

FOX SPORTS MEDIA GROUP REACHES MULTI-YEAR, MULTI-MEDIA RIGHTS AGREEMENT WITH ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP

FOX to Broadcast Four Fights Annually Beginning November 2011

The Ultimate Fighter, Featuring a New Format, Moves to FX

Today, Ultimate Fighting Championship(R) (UFC), the world’s leading mixed martial arts organization and No. 1 Pay-Per-View event provider in the world, finds its perfect media match in FOX, the No. 1 television network in the country. FOX Sports Media Group, the umbrella entity representing FOX Networks Group’s wide array of sports platforms, has reached a multi-year, multi-media rights agreement with Zuffa, LLC, owner of the UFC brand.

The landmark agreement, which puts UFC on par with many of the country’s professional sports organizations, delivers four live events in prime time or late night each year to the FOX broadcast network, home to the country’s biggest sports events, including the Super Bowl, World Series and Daytona 500. The first live event airs Saturday, Nov. 12 at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT. Additional programming on multiple FOX networks launches January 2012 and includes live fights, pre and post shows, countdown shows, UFC Unleashed, UFC Primetime, the UFC Knockout series, Best of Pride, weigh-in specials, and much more original content from extensive Zuffa archives. The agreement also provides for developing robust mobile and authenticated online offerings to exploit a vast array of digital platform rights.

In spring 2012, THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER, UFC’s signature weekly reality show moves to FX, FOX’s general entertainment cable network now in more than 99 million homes. With the move to FX, the show will feature a newly-designed format. FX is also set to televise another four-to six-live UFC events annually, with a mixture of additional events and programs heading to FSMG cable networks including FUEL TV.

“We’re excited to be part of the FOX family,” says Dana White, UFC President. “The UFC is finally where it belongs on the number one network in the country and aligned with the most prestigious sports properties in the world. I’ve always said that the UFC will be the biggest sport in the world and with this relationship it will become a reality.”

“My brother Frank, Dana and I always believed that our passion for the sport of Mixed Martial Arts would help us to build the UFC into a successful global brand and ultimately make it one of the premier sports properties in the world,” said Lorenzo Fertitta, Chairman and CEO of the UFC. “The partnership with FOX is a major step in making this a reality and also builds on the great relationship that we already have established with FOX in Latin America, Australia and Europe.”

“Mixed martial arts is not only the fastest growing sport in the world, but also the world’s most exciting form of man-to-man competition, and the UFC is the world’s premier MMA organization,” said FSMG President & Co-COO Eric Shanks. “Since FOX Sports is America’s No. 1 sports network and FOX is America’s No. 1 network for young adults, the UFC on FOX is a perfect match.”

“UFC’s growth over the past decade is nothing short of phenomenal and it has become one of the marquee sports in this country,” said John Landgraf, President and General Manager, FX Networks. “There is a reason for its rising popularity. It features some of the greatest athletes in the world, and we believe it will be a terrific addition to our schedule and look forward to our relationship.”

Founded in 1993, UFC has been on a meteoric rise since 2001 when it was acquired by Zuffa, LLC, owned by Lorenzo Fertitta, Frank Fertitta III and Dana White. UFC’S first brush with FOX Sports goes back to June 2002, when Fox Sports Net carried UFC’s first non-pay-per-view event on basic cable television, and delivered what was then its largest audience to date. Through cooperation with state athletic commissions, consistent rules were established and refined for competition through officiating, judging, the addition of weight divisions, length of rounds and better equipment. Combined with an unyielding devotion to fighter safety, the UFC has vaulted to mainstream status in the minds of US sports fans attracting major sponsors such as Bud Light, Dodge and Harley Davidson.

UFC has displayed tremendous growth in digital and social media consumption. Unique visitors to UFC.com tripled between 2006 and 2010 (2.1 million to 6.3 million), and UFC established local web sites in 10 countries and Latin America. Using a unique blend of incentives, promotions and original content, including live bouts, UFC has seen its number of Facebook friends increase from 800,000 in 2009 to 6.1 million at present, outpacing the NFL, MLB and the NHL. UFC currently ranks second to the NBA in social media followers among the major sports organizations. Additionally, UFC President Dana White regularly interacts with over 1.5 million fans that follow him on Twitter.

Mixed martial arts skews much younger than more established US sports, which ranged from age 43 for Super Bowl XLIV to 61 for horse racing’s Triple Crown in 2010. Thus far, the median age for UFC on Spike in 2011 is 36 and 56% of UFC fans fall into the adult 18-34 demographic. Live UFC programming performs extremely well in the advertiser attractive, hard-to-reach male 18-34 demographic, with live event programing averaging a 1.53 rating, making it a top-20 cable show this year.

(Silver Spring, Md.) – Buoyed by fan favorites like AMERICAN CHOPPER: SENIOR VS. JUNIOR, Discovery Channel had its best February (tied with 2004) among Men 25-54 delivery (489,000). Among Men 25-54, Discovery was a top 10 cable network every night of the week for Men 25-54 prime delivery.

Highlights from American Chopper  include:

· AMERICAN CHOPPER: SENIOR VS JUNIOR was the #2 non-sports cable program among Men (25-54/18-49).

ONLY IN AMERICA WITH LARRY THE CABLE GUY

Series Premiere Tuesday, February 8 at 9 p.m. ET on HISTORY(R)

January 5, 2011, New York, NY – Larry the Cable Guy believes the United States of America is the greatest country on the face of the earth and he’s out to prove it. In this new series, Larry crisscrosses the nation, going totally off the beaten path to find the people, places and things that define this nation’s unique history. From panning for gold in the hills of California to leading a cavalry charge in a Civil War reenactment in Virginia, Larry gives history a fun, down-home twist in the new one-hour series ONLY IN AMERICA WITH LARRY THE CABLE GUY, debuting Tuesday, February 8 at 9 p.m. ET on HISTORY.

Each episode uncovers surprising information about America’s history from the story of how moonshine-making during Prohibition gave rise to one of America’s most celebrated past times – NASCAR racing – to the history of etiquette from Emily Post’s heirs in Vermont, complete with a lesson in good manners.

Coast to coast Larry visits cities of all sizes getting an education in its history including, Monowi, NE a town with a population of one and the bustling metropolis of San Francisco, CA and New York, NY.

Throughout this informative and quirky approach to history, Larry prompts one memorable adventure after the next. He finds himself competing in a Mark Twain-style frog race in Calaveras County, CA; crawfishing in Louisiana; logging deep in the Oregon woods; discovering dog sledding in the icy lakes of Minnesota and getting a kick out of Mule Day in Tennessee.

Larry the Cable Guy is a cultural icon. After years of working the comedy circuit he was propelled to superstardom as a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour (along with Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall). Ticket sales, merchandising, books, comedy records, and movies earned him a spot on Forbes’ Top 100 Celebrity Money-Makers list in 2007.

ONLY IN AMERICA WITH LARRY THE CABLE GUY is produced for HISTORY by Pilgrim Films &Televisionand Parallel Entertainment. Craig Piligian and Eddie Rohwedder are Executive Producers for Pilgrim Films &Television. Larry the Cable Guy and J.P. Williams are Executive Producers for Parallel Entertainment. Executive Producers for HISTORY are David McKillop, Dirk Hoogstra and Mike Stiller.

HISTORY(TM) and HISTORY HD(TM) are the leading destinations for revealing, award-winning original non-fiction series and event-driven specials that connect history with viewers in an informative, immersive and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. Programming covers a diverse variety of historical genres ranging from military history to contemporary history, technology to natural history,as wellas science, archaeology and pop culture. Among the network’sprogramofferings are hit series such as American Pickers, Ax Men, The Universe, Ice Road Truckers, Top Gear, Pawn Stars and Top Shot,as wellas acclaimed specials including America the Story of Us, WWII in HD, 102 Minutes That Changed America, The President’s Book of Secrets and Life After People. HISTORY has earned four Peabody Awards, seven Primetime Emmy(R) Awards, 12 News & Documentary Emmy(R) Awards and received the prestigious Governor’s Award from the Academy ofTelevisionArts & Sciences for the network’s Save Our History(R) campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. Take a Veteran to School Day is the network’s latest initiative connecting America’s schools and communities with veterans from all wars. The HISTORY website, located at www.history.com, is the leading online resource for all things history, featuring over 20,000 videos, images, audio clips, articles and interactivefeaturesthat allow visitors to dig deeper into a broad range of thousands of historical topics.

DIRTY JOBS WITH MIKE ROWE has now been the #1 non-fiction cable program among M25-54 (excluding news/sports) during Tuesday primetime for two weeks in a row.

Discovery Channel was a top-five (#5) cable network in M25-54/18-49/18-34 delivery during Tuesday primetime.

Another all-new episode ofDIRTY JOBS WITH MIKE ROWE airs this Sunday, November 21 at 9PM ET/PT, followed by the world premiere of new series BREW MASTERS at 10PM ET/PT.