Animal Planet's 'Puppy Bowl' Takes Top Spot In Sunday Cable Ratings

Animal Planet's 'Puppy Bowl' Dominates Cable Ratings
**Embargoed til 2/5/2013** NEW YORK CITY, NY - NOVEMBER 11: One of the smaller puppies decides it would rather not play ball at the taping of Animal Planet's 'Puppy Bowl IX' program in New York City, NY on November 11, 2012. The mock football game will air as counter programming to the actual superbowl. On the internet, puppy bowl has been a huge sensation and now in it's 9th year. The puppies used in the show are from shelters and rescue organizations from across the country. The kittens in the half time show came from a shelter located in New York City. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post via Getty Images)
**Embargoed til 2/5/2013** NEW YORK CITY, NY - NOVEMBER 11: One of the smaller puppies decides it would rather not play ball at the taping of Animal Planet's 'Puppy Bowl IX' program in New York City, NY on November 11, 2012. The mock football game will air as counter programming to the actual superbowl. On the internet, puppy bowl has been a huge sensation and now in it's 9th year. The puppies used in the show are from shelters and rescue organizations from across the country. The kittens in the half time show came from a shelter located in New York City. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post via Getty Images)

By Kevin Noonan

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - In what's no surprise for one of the premiere events in the puppy sports landscape, Animal Planet's "Puppy Bowl" Sunday took the top spot in cable ratings on Sunday, with 10.4 million unique viewers across its 12-hour marathon.

According to Nielsen, the premiere of "Puppy Bowl XI" at 3 p.m. was the No. 1 cable telecast Sunday - excluding sports - in total viewers (2.8 million) and adults 25-54 (1 million). Animal Planet came in second in all of television for the 25-54 demo in its 3-5 p.m. timeslot, trailing only NBC's Super Bowl pre-game coverage.

The furry extravaganza exhibited digital dominance as well, marking the top non-Super Bowl social event on television, reaching more than 17 million people according to Nielsen SocialGuide. Animal Planet's "Puppy Bowl" videos generated nearly 2.5 million streams, with more than 1.2 million accessed via social media, and participation in the "Puppy Bowl XI" fantasy game was up nearly 50% from last year's inaugural Fantasy Puppy League.

As a partner with rescue groups and animal shelters across the country, "Puppy Bowl" was successful in its charitable mission as well, as it was responsible for approximately 425 pet adoptions, according to Animal Planet.

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