'Deadliest Catch' Reels in Highest Ratings in Nearly 2 Years, Catch This Week's Exclusive Preview

Deadliest Catch premiered its landmark 16th season to milestone ratings on April 14, bringing in a win for Discovery as the most-watched episode in nearly two years, ahead of the series premiere of its successful Deadliest Catch: Bloodline launch. Ahead of Tuesday's all-new episode of the hit docuseries and its new spinoff, PopCulture.com has an exclusive preview of what's to come this season as the captains weigh their options with remnants of Typhoon Hagibis headed right their way.

As the Deadliest Catch captains find themselves in the most cut-throat King Crab season yet after Russia cut down on illegal crabbing, causing prices to skyrocket, viewership likewise rose, bringing in 7 percent more viewers than last season's premiere with an average of 2.2M P2+ viewers, according to Nielsen ratings. With audience growth across all major demographics, one group that saw a major increase was that of women 25-54 tuning in. Streaming numbers on Discovery GO reflected the explosive premiere, with minutes watched growing 89 percent in the first three days from the prior season premiere. Deadliest Catch also ranked as one of the most social cable broadcast of the night with nearly 112,000 social media interactions.

Deadliest Catch: Bloodline also raked in impressive ratings, making it Discovery's highest rated freshman series launch since Shifting Gears, and one of the top premieres of the year on Discovery for men 18-49. It also became the highest-rated series premiere out of Deadliest Catch in seven years.

There's plenty more danger and drama to come on this season of Deadliest Catch, with PopCulture's sneak peek of Tuesday's episode showing the impact of Typhoon Hagibis on the fleet right at the start of King Crab season. "The thing about being a crab captain, it's about decisions," Saga Captain Jake Anderson says. "You could stop, and anchor up, and run and hide, but you ain't gonna pay no bills."

"I can try and keep crab coming on board, to keep this business going no matter what. But that can be devastatingly wrong," he weighs. "At the end of the day, you have to make that call, as a captain, to order men to go out, and possibly die. And that's the scariest thing about this job. You have a choice."

Deadliest Catch returns with all new episodes on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Discovery, followed by Deadliest Catch: Bloodline at 9 p.m. ET. Deadliest Catch After the Catch, a virtual talk show giving the behind-the-scenes scoop on the season and hosted Mike Rowe, airs at 10 p.m. ET, all on Discovery and the next day on Discovery GO.