Animal Planet's'River Monsters' Sets Network Ratings Record

Animal Planet original series River
Monsters
finished its fourth season this past Monday as the network's most-
watched series ever.

The series, which follows extreme angler Jeremy Wade as he
tracks down huge freshwater fish, drew 1.5 million viewers during its fourth
season, according to network officials. River Monsters also bested its
previous year's performance in all demos including adults 25-54 (up 9% to
836,000 viewers); men 25-54 (up 6%, 500,000 viewers) and women 25-54 (336,000 viewers).

The series' season four opener, was the most-watched debut
in Animal Planet's history, delivering nearly 1.8 million total viewers
viewers, according to the network.

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.