Discovery Channel Soars with "Race to Mars" - Two-Hour Premiere Was Top Performer Across All Canadian Specialty Television on Sunday Ratings / Discovery Channel Posted by RAD on Sep 25, 2007 - 06:50 PM On Sunday night, Discovery Channel Canada blasted into the 2007 Fall television season with the World Premiere of "Race to Mars" - and took a rocket load of viewers along for the ride! The two-hour premiere, which aired at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT, was a huge success for Discovery Channel, drawing an audience of 370,000 total viewers (with a reach of over 1 million) in the Sunday night "Discovery Presents" timeslot. This premiere was the No. 1 show across all Canadian specialty television on Sunday for the key advertising demos of Adults 25-54 (232,000) and Adults 18-49 (188,000). It was also the most watched original Canadian special ever to air on Discovery Channel. "Canadians are looking to the stars and beyond for the next great adventure in human discovery and Mars - as the logical next step - has captured the imagination of Discovery audiences," said Paul Lewis, President and General Manager of Discovery Channel. "Our strategy of devoting an unprecedented amount of coverage to one subject has created a ratings hit as well as a surge in interest for humanity's next giant leap in space." A recent Strategic Council survey revealed that nearly seven out of 10 respondents were excited by the prospect of sending a manned mission to other planets - and the stellar debut "Race to Mars" delivered all the excitement and exhilaration of what that maiden voyage might look like. Born out of exhaustive scientific research and consultation, the four-hour miniseries imagines and simulates the first human mission to Mars, capturing every moment - from leaving Earth's orbit to the return voyage home. Set in the year 2030, award-winning actor Michael Riley leads the mission as Commander Rick Erwin. A six-part companion documentary series, "Mars Rising," (premieres Sun., Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT) explores the science and technology being developed and tested today that will make a future mission to Mars a reality, each episode exploring a critical issue key to the success of the future voyage. Discovery Channel will air an encore presentation of the first two hours of "Race to Mars" on Wed., Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT. The two-hour conclusion of the miniseries premieres Sun., Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT. Source: BBM/NMR Research overnight data This article is from CHANNEL CANADA   http://www.channelcanada.com/ The URL for this story is:   http://www.channelcanada.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1995