REALITY SHOWS SCARE UP RATINGS: PREMIERES OF 'GHOST HUNTERS' AND 'DESTINATION TRUTH' BREAK CHANNEL RECORDS
SCI FI Channel #1 in 9pm Hour
Both Hit Reality Series Score Double-Digit Increases
NEW YORK - March 6, 2008 - Last night, a chilling paranormal investigation and a groundbreaking trek into the Himalayas in search of the Yeti scored with viewers and set series high ratings records for SCI FI's hit reality series, Ghost Hunters and Destination Truth. The season 4 premiere episode of Ghost Hunters at 9pm delivered a 1.9 household rating, 2.7 million total viewers, 1.615 million Adults 18-49 and 1.706 million Adults 25-54, its highest rating of a regular series episode to date. In the 10pm hour Destination Truth kicked off its second season with its best-ever telecast, delivering a 1.4 household rating, 1.034 million Adults 25-54, 970,000 Adults 18-49 and 1.7 million total viewers. Additionally:
SCI FI was the #1 cable network in Ghost Hunters' 9pm time period for both Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54, and demonstrated its appeal across genders by ranking #1 in cable in the 9-10pm time period for Women 25-54, Women 18-49, Men 25-54 and Men 18-49.
Compared to the Fall 2007 premiere of the most recent slate of new Ghost Hunters episodes on 9/26/07, this is an increase of +36% in household ratings, +49% in Adults 25-54, +30% in Adults 18-49 and +33% in total viewers.
Compared to the Destination Truth season 1 premiere on 6/6/07, last night's episode is up +27% in household ratings, +34% in Adults 25-54s, +15% in Adults 18-49s and +18% in total viewers.
Next week, Jason, Grant and the Ghost Hunters team attempt to debunk the myriad of alleged ghostly sightings at the Burlington County Prison Museum (formerly the Burlington County Jail), a national landmark located in Mount Holly, NJ. Then, at 10 PM, Josh Gates travels to East Africa to investigate mysterious haunted ruins in search of ghosts, and to Mongolia to locate a monster size sandworm that has locals in a panic.
Ghost Hunters kicked off its fourth season as one of cable's hottest shows. Enjoying record-high ratings throughout its run, the series celebrated its best season ever in Fall 2007, culminating in the record-breaking special on Halloween, Ghost Hunters Live. Its spinoff, Ghost Hunters International, made its series debut this January as the highest-rated reality telecast in the Channel's history, cementing the franchise's place as the #1 paranormal destination in cable! Ghost Hunters is produced in association with Craig Piligian's Pilgrim Films and Television (American Chopper, Dirty Jobs, The Ultimate Fighter). Piligian and Thomas Thayer, along with Rob Katz and Alan David, serve as executive producers.
In the second season of Destination Truth, adventurer and truth-seeker Josh Gates once again takes viewers off the map in his search for answers to some the world's most notorious unexplained mysteries. The show will feature even more exotic locales, stunning finds and fascinating eyewitness accounts as Josh brings his humor to brand new investigations. This season of Destination Truth is Executive Produced by Brad Kuhlman (1000 Places to See Before You Die, Daisy Does America, FM Nation).
SCI FI Channel is a television network where "what if" is what's on. SCI FI fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming, as well as a dynamic Web site (www.scifi.com ) and magazine. Launched in 1992, and currently in 93 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies.
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