A Large Audience for ‘Catch’ Episode About Captain’s Stroke

Interest in the death of the Capt. Phil Harris propelled “Deadliest Catch” to its highest ratings ever, the Discovery Channel said Wednesday.

The Tuesday episode of “Deadliest Catch,” which ended with Mr. Harris being rushed to the hospital after having a stroke, was watched by 5.4 million people, according to the Nielsen Company’s ratings.

The popular reality show had averaged 3.6 million viewers through last week, up from 3.5 million in 2009 and 3.1 million in 2008.

Tuesday’s episode, entitled “Blown Off Course,” was the highest-rated prime time show on ad-supported cable that night, Discovery said.

More ratings records are likely to be set, given that the next three weeks of “Deadliest Catch” will document Mr. Harris’s time in the hospital. He died in February of complications from the stroke.

As I wrote in The New York Times on Tuesday, it stands to reason that viewers who already know how the story ends want to see how it unfolds.

“Most of the fans know what the unfortunate ending is,” Clark Bunting, the president and general manager of Discovery, said in an interview last week. “I think this is a collective opportunity for people to express their condolences.”