WALKING WITH DINOSAURS rules cable. The original U.S. broadcast on April 16, 2000 drew nearly 10.7 million people. The show was seen as a three-hour special on the Discovery Channel instead of a six-night mini-series as it was originally shown on the BBC. The large audience made it the most-watched non-sports event on cable TV during the 1999-2000 season with a rating of 8.0. Based on Discovery Channel numbers, approximately 40 million viewers saw some part of the special during its back-to-back Sunday telecasts at 7 pm and 10 pm. DINOSAURS crushed the previous cable record set on March 20 by Discovery's RAISING THE MAMMOTH, which was seen by about 10.1 million people and garnered a 7.8 household rating. The co-production with the BBC followed 155 million years of prehistoric events using computer animation and recent scientific discoveries to simulate what it was like when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. After word of mouth catches on Discovery Channel could even see bigger numbers for its several scheduled re-broadcasts.
Read Eric Huelsman's Animation World Magazine article about WALKING WITH DINOSAURS to find out what went into making this extraordinary television event.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
