Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot Watched By 1.3 Million People, Thanks to Viral Video and Coincidence

I do think there's a Squatch in these woods... Special sneak preview of the new Animal Planet series Finding Bigfoot was a ratings success. According a blog on mnn.com, the Discovery Channel Network on Monday wrapped up "River Monsters" and "Finding Bigfoot" with ratings that helped push Animal Planet to third among all ad-supported cable networks in its timeslot.

The blog attributed the ratings success to the timing of the sneak preview and a viral video:

Back in February, I mentioned that AP was filming a new series based on the legendary ape - and it appears that their timing in terms of national interest was spot on. Whether by coincidence (or some clever viral marketing?) a purported video of Bigfoot was placed online last week, recorded with an iPhone by some hikers in Spokane, Washington.

In a little over a week, it's already racked up over 1.5M views on YouTube and countless media articles. The full six-part "Finding Bigfoot" series is set to premiere this Sunday - but the network by apparent sheer luck was genius in running a preview this past Monday. You can't plan better publicity than an actual sighting - which may be all the more reason in today's hyper-media-connected world to be cynical of a connection.

You can watch the viral video below, which will bring you back here if you click on the video's description link =)