'Life' ratings are in the swim for Discovery

A press release from the folks at Discovery touts that its marquee documentary "Life" reached 33.8 million viewers during its two-hour premiere Sunday. That number overstates the impact of the presentation a bit, since it only reflects how many people sampled the program for as little as 60 seconds — across seven cable networks, no less.

Nonetheless, that doesn't mean "Life" wasn't worth living for Discovery.

The launch of the 11-part Oprah Winfrey-narrated, circle-of-life-themed doc averaged 9.4 million viewers, airing on Discovery, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Investigation Discovery, Planet Green and Discovery Health.

For Discovery itself, “Life” was the most-watched premiere since 2000, the year of “Walking With Dinosaurs” and “Raising the Mammoth.” It averaged a 5.24 household rating, and drew 4.3 million viewers among adults 25-54.