Discovery goes deep with new Shark Week

0 Comments | USA TODAY, July, 2008 | by Bill Keveney

Discovery Channel knows the right bait for luring summer viewers: sharks.

The cable network launches its 21st annual Shark Week on Sunday with Mythbusters: Shark Special (9 p.m. ET/PT), one of six new programs that will be part of a seven-day fin-fest.

"It's a summertime ritual. People are endlessly fascinated by sharks," Discovery president John Ford says. "There's a lot of variety, they're fascinating creatures and also they scare us."

Ratings back up that interest. Last year's Shark Week premiere made cable's weekly Top 20, attracting 4.2 million viewers. It ranks as one of Discovery's most-watched weeks of the year, Ford says.

Discovery has broadcast more than 100 different hours of shark programming over the years, but Ford says new...