Over the weekend, Nat Geo Wild premiered the seventh season of a show called The Incredible Dr. Pol, which follows veterinarian Jan Pol as he treats local animals living in a rural Michigan area. As exciting as that all sounds, apparently people dig watching the Netherlands transplant look at pets and large farm animals. The ratings are in, and 1.1 million total viewers tuned in for Saturday’s premiere. Those numbers may not seem huge compared to network TV standards, but for Nat Geo Wild, they are gargantuan.
In fact, reports indicate that the Season 7 premiere was up 52% in the ratings compared to the show’s August 2014 premiere. It’s hard to tell if airing the show a bit earlier in the season helped or if people are simply more aware of the series thanks to the lawsuit the doctor was involved with that found him negligent after treating a dog that was struck by a vehicle back in 2011. Either way, it’s good news for Nat Geo Wild. According to The Wrap, it’s the most-watched episode on the cable channel in terms of people who tuned in to watch the episode on the night it aired.
Reality TV may not be the draw that it once was, but Dr. Pol has made himself a popular character by just being a kind-of wacky veterinarian who has come from the Netherlands and set up shop in the United States. He works on regular farm animals, like cows and horses, but also more exotic animals, like the zebra shown in the clip, below.
The Season 7 premiere was a bit less exciting than the zebra episode, instead featuring dogs needing shots and a kitten that had to be looked at when it seemed as if the kitten had rabies. The Kardashian clan certainly gets more over-the-top than that, but for whatever reason, in it’s seventh season, The Incredible Dr. Pol has landed a much wider-reaching audience. That’s something Nat Geo Wild can celebrate.
You can view full episodes of The Incredible Dr. Pol over at Nat Geo Wild or catch new episodes when they air on Saturday nights at 9 p.m. ET. For the full summer TV premiere schedule, head here.
