Animal Planet's PIT BULLS AND PAROLEES Thanksgiving Special Draws 1.6 Million

On Saturday, a record average of 1.6 million P2+ viewers watched ANIMAL Planet's "Giving Thanks" THANKSGIVING special, generating $50,000 in donations towards Villalobos Rescue Center in New Orleans through the "You Watch. We Give." initiative.

"Giving Thanks" ranks as the series' most-watched episode ever among multiple demos, including P2+ viewers (1.6M), P18-49 (830K), P25-54 (777K), W18-49 (527K), and W25-54 (492K). In addition, the episode ranked as the #1 original cable series for the night with P25-54, W25-54, P18-49, and W18-49 delivery and also helped ANIMAL Planet rank #4 among all ad-supported cable networks in the 10 PM timeslot.

PIT BULLS & PAROLEES fans are among the most enthusiastic ANIMAL Planet viewers, and they took to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to make Saturday's premiere the second-most social program in all TV*. Continuing the #ShowUsYourPits call to action across platforms, fans shared pictures of their beloved pit bulls - with a select few featured on ANIMAL Planet throughout the episode - garnering tens of thousands of social mentions, generating global and U.S. Trending Topics on Twitter, filling up the PIT BULLS & PAROLEES Facebook page (with more than 1.2 million fans) and lighting up Instagram.

Through the "You Watch. We Give." campaign, ANIMAL Planet committed to make a donation for every viewer who watched Saturday's live premiere of PIT BULLS & PAROLEES. As a result, ANIMAL Planet, in partnership with Cox Communications, donated $50,000 to Villalobos Rescue Center, the 501c3 nonprofit organization featured in the series. The "You Watch. We Give." initiative marks the fifth consecutive year of ANIMAL Planet's on-going commitment to make a positive impact on the ANIMAL world with the non-profit initiative "Reach Out. Act. Respond." (R.O.A.R.).

"Villalobos has grown exponentially since we moved to New Orleans, and this donation from ANIMAL Planet and Cox will tremendously help our cause," said Torres. "We can't thank our fans enough for supporting us and the pit bull breed for all these years by tuning in and being loyal viewers."

*Excluding sports. Source: Nielsen SocialGuide

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