BBC Earth Launches
This month, BBC AMERICA showcases BBC Earth, a new global natural history brand from the BBC.
In a block featuring five fascinating documentaries, it takes viewers from atop the Himalayas with the grizzly bear, to inside the lion’s den with the help of state-of-the-art technology. Led by channel premieres The Life of Mammals: A Winning Design, Gizzly: Nature’s Entrepreneur and Lion: Spy in the Den - all the documentaries are presented by multi-award winning and world renowned natural history expert, Sir David Attenborough.
The BBC produces the most natural-history programming in the world, including Planet Earth. Its new global brand, BBC Earth, aims to highlight this incredible content across all platforms. The BBC Earth block airs in high definition on Sunday, September 20, 3:00 p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. PT to 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT on BBC AMERICA.
GREAT NATURAL WONDERS OF THE WORLD
David Attenborough travels across the seven continents in a quest that begins in North America where he witnesses dawn breaking over the forbidding terrain of Death Valley and ends in Antarctica, where he reflects on the extraordinary, beautiful and inspiring natural wonders of the planet.
Great Natural Wonders of the World airs 3:00 p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. PT
GREATEST WILDLIFE SHOW ON EARTH
Follows the path of the sun on its annual cycle, from the Equator, across the Northern Hemisphere and into the South, revealing all the natural rhythms of life - the urge to breed, feed and raise young - driven by the sun, moon and seasons, across the world.
Greatest Wildlife Show on Earth airs 4:00 p.m. ET/1:00 p.m. PT
THE LIFE OF MAMMALS: A WINNING DESIGN – CHANNEL PREMIERE
David Attenborough introduces the audience to the most diverse group of animals ever to live on Earth, from the tiny two-inch pygmy shrew to the enormous blue whale; from the sloth to the swift cheetah; from the naked mole-rat to the human baby. This is the story of 4,000 species which have outlived the dinosaurs and conquered the farthest places on Earth. With bodies kept warm by thick coats of fur and their developing young protected and nourished within their bodies, they have managed to colonize every part of the globe, dry or wet, hot or cold.
The Life of Mammals: A Winning Design premieres 5:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m. PT
GRIZZLY: NATURE’S ENTREPRENEUR – CHANNEL PREMIERE
Few animals can match the intelligence, resourcefulness or power of the North American brown bear, or "grizzly". This documentary meets the most intelligent and adaptable of the world’s eight species of bear, filming 14,000 feet high in the Himalayas, in the Gobi desert and of course in North America. The film reveals the bear’s curiosity, playfulness and fighting prowess and its important role in the survival of its environment. Most surprising of all is that - just like us - every grizzly is its own character - in looks, temperament and skills.
Gizzly: Nature’s Entrepreneur premieres 6:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. PT
LION: SPY IN THE DEN – CHANNEL PREMIERE
This documentary takes natural-world filmmaking to another level, when the award-winning team of director and cameraman employs remote-control buggy-cameras, buried periscopes and state-of-the-art night vision technology to truly enter the lion's den. When a lion charges, the viewers charge with it, when it rests, we lie alongside. In what is a new achievement for lion specialists, the program is able to examine the fragile alliances between pride males and their relationships with neighboring rivals.
Lion: Spy in the Den premieres 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT
In June, BBC AMERICA ran its first successful BBC Earth block featuring the U.S. premiere of Attenborough’s Charles Darwin and The Tree of Life.
For more on BBC Earth, visit BBCEarth.com- where the latest technology and the world's finest, most innovative factual filmmakers combine to capture the full richness and diversity of nature. BBC Earth programming including The Blue Planet, Galapagos and Life In Cold Blood are available to purchase and download on iTunes, Xbox LIVE Marketplace and Zune Marketplace.
For up-to-the-minute information on BBC AMERICA, forthcoming U.S. premieres, art work and news from the channel, log on to www.press.bbcamerica.com.
BBC AMERICA brings audiences a new generation of award-winning television featuring news with a uniquely global perspective, provocative dramas, razor-sharp comedies and life-changing makeovers. BBC AMERICA pushes the boundaries to deliver high quality, highly addictive and eminently watchable programming to viewers who demand more. BBC AMERICA is distributed by Discovery Networks. It is available on digital cable and satellite TV in more than 64 million homes.
BBC Earth is the global brand for all the BBC’s natural history content spanning the last 50 years. The BBC is the largest producer of natural history programming in the world and the brand highlights the vast scale of incredible content which is produced in this genre. Visible across all platforms; TV, digital and merchandising as well as expanding across TV stings, DVDs and digital products throughout 2009, BBC Earth encourages engagement with current as well as classic programs such as Planet Earth and The Blue Planet in addition to future commissions. BBC Earth branding is only visible outside the UK and is from BBC Worldwide the main commercial arm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH
Sir David Attenborough is one of the world’s best-known natural history presenters. His distinguished career spans more than 50 years, during which time he has done more than anyone else to popularize natural history programming and has become one of the world’s most respected authorities on wildlife. His combination of charm and enthusiasm, together with concern for conservation and the environment, has been profoundly influential on several generations of viewers.
Born in London on 8 May 1926, Attenborough studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge. He served in the Royal Navy and joined the BBC in 1952 as a trainee producer of documentary programs. In 1954, he became a presenter and launched his famous series, Zoo Quest, which took him to the wilder parts of the world. In 1965, he took one of the top jobs in the BBC, Controller of BBC2, and was responsible for the introduction of color television into Britain. He went on to run both BBC television networks and in 1973, returned to program-making.
In 1979, he wrote and presented Life on Earth, at the time the most ambitious series ever produced by the BBC’s Natural History Unit - an estimated 500 million people worldwide watched it. In 1984, came its sequel, The Living Planet, and in 1990, The Trials of Life, the final part of the epic trilogy spanning all life on Earth. This was followed by Life in the Freezer (1993), The Private Life of Plants (1995), The Life of Birds (1998), The Life of Mammals (2002), Life In The Undergrowth (2005) and Life In Cold Blood (2007), all of which received huge acclaim and many awards including the accompanying books and DVDs which topped bestseller lists.
In 2002, Attenborough celebrated 50 years with the BBC with Life On Air, a television biography and bestselling book and on his 80th birthday, in 2006, was on the Galapagos Islands filming giant tortoises for Life In Cold Blood. Other recent projects include The Blue Planet and Planet Earth. Over the years Attenborough has received countless prestigious awards and honorary degrees and in 2005, he was awarded the Order of Merit by the Queen which recognizes exceptional distinction in the arts, sciences and other areas.
