Nik Wallenda's Grand Canyon tightrope walk earns millions of viewers

Nik Wallenda’s highly anticipated tightrope walk across the Grand Canyon broke ratings records for the Discovery Channel.

“Skywire with Nik Wallenda” was seen by 13 million total viewers on Sunday night, making it the network’s most-watched special since “Walking with Dinosaurs,” which aired in 2000.

Wallenda, who is 34, trained for weeks in his hometown of Sarasota, Florida, before he became the first person ever to cross the Grand Canyon on a tightrope.  

The circus performer, acrobat and heir to the famed Flying Wallendas circus family, said he wasn’t afraid of walking a quarter mile across the gorge.

Wallenda told reporters after the walk that he hoped his next stunt would be a tightrope walk between the Empire State building and the Chrysler building in New York.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.