Shark Week Back For Summer

Shark Week, cable television's longest-running programming event, is not just "television" but is a summertime ritual.

Shark Week, will celebrate its 20th Anniversary on Discovery Channel this summer with top-rated shark programs -– including eight all-new specials --filling the network's entire weekly schedule from 9AM to 3AM (ET/PT) between Sunday, July 29 and Saturday, August 4.

Eight all-new Shark Week, premieres will air during the 9PM (ET/PT) hour. These primetime programs document and examine the unique behavior and diversity of the ocean's top predator, and explain the best techniques for surviving an encounter with a shark. Shark Week primetime kicks off with the Sunday, July 29 two-hour special "Ocean of Fear: Worst Shark Attack Ever," which tells the gripping real-life story of the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis in 1945.

Shark Week fans will also have the opportunity to help program this year's lineup by voting for their favorite "Viewers Choice" programs, selected from 10 of the highest-rated Shark Week programs of all time. The top vote-getters will air during the 8PM hour. Voting, via Discovery.com, will begin on May 25 and end on July 1.

First launched in 1988, Shark Week, was Discovery Channel's very first week-long event, designed to fulfill viewers' thirst for knowledge about the natural world, and to use the time between traditional television seasons to draw attention to the still-young network. The ratings shot up in that first year -- and Shark Week, shows no signs of slowing in popularity, remaining one of Discovery Channel's most popular annual events.

Last year, in 2006, Shark Week was watched by 20 million viewers.