The Discovery Channel ended last week on a high. Thanks to its big hit Gold Rush and Yukon Men, the network saw its highest rated Friday primetime ever with a 2.18 in the Adult 25-54 demographic. Discovery renewed Gold Rush for a fourth season on Friday just before the season finale aired.

Coming in at number one on cable on February 22, Discovery’s night was fuelled by the third season finale of Gold Rush at 8 PM. The two-hour Gold Rush Live pulled in 2.53 among the 25-54 demo. Overall, the mining reality show got 4.46 million viewers on Friday. Following that, the second season debut of Yukon Men got a 1.44 among the 25-54 demo for a series high. The return of the Alaska-based unscripted series was seen by a total audience of 2.6 million at 10 PM. Before February 22, the highest end of week primetime for Discovery was on January 18th when the network scored a 1.91. On that night last month, Gold Rush pulled in a 2.7/0 and Bering Sea Gold got a 1.6/2 in the 25-54 demo. The previous high was on February 3, 2012 when Discovery’s primetime got a 1.86 in the demo.

Deadline's Dominic Patten - tip him here.