Upfront News and Views: National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD

Venue Onyx Room located on the mezzanine level of the ultramodern Park Hyatt New York hotel on W 57th St I didn39t walk into a room here I walked into an environment not unlike being on Mars from the red lighting to artifacts scattered at each corner of the room and soothing yet otherworldly jazz My breakfast table was near an astronaut dressed to inspect the planet39s terrain with a rover vehicle Truth be told I didn39t get why one corner had clothes coming from another century on a rack A rotating onscreen globe of Earth welcomed all Grade 4 JacksPresentation No beating around the bush here right from the impressive opening video At every opportunity Nat Geo made clear its intent to be the HBO or Netflix of science exploration and natural world content whether unscripted or scripted quotWe39re out to be the world39s premium brand of this arena and have our shows extend across every consumer touchpointquot declared National Geographic Global Networks CEO Courteney Monroe In particular this premium push is aimed at increasing viewership of both NGC and Nat Geo WILD among women and Millennials especially multicultural Millennials The leap in series production and production quality comes from NGC39s upgraded relationship with coowner 21st CenturyFox Under that relationship series will get global distribution quicker and more than 25 percent of annual proceeds will be turned over to the National Geographic Society for future exploration projects Time devoted to marketing and ad sales pitching was refreshingly short Grade 4 JacksNews amp8220Marsamp8221 a sixpart unscriptedscripted hybrid miniseries about the possibility humans will colonize the Red Planet will debut on NGC in November amp160amp8220This is most emblematic of our scale and scope going forwardquot Monroe noted The scripted elements will feature AsianAmerican twins with visions of a Mars journey ahead Ron Howard pictured at top with Monroe will executive produce with his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer and amp8220Days of Graceamp8221 director Everardo Gout will oversee amp8220I hope this fires up the belief that space exploration is a vital part of the human experiencequot Howard said Other new series a few designed to give viewers an immersive quotyou are therequot outlook include amp8220Originsamp8221 pivotal elements in human development hosted by Jason Silva of amp8220Brain Gamesamp8221 amp8220Chain of Commandamp8221 a year inside the battlegrounds of Afghanistan and amp8220Lawless Oceansamp8221 maritime crimes exposed and brought to justice amp8220Exploreramp8221 the awardwinning series returning on a monthly basis last fall after a fiveyear absence will go weekly later this year with a magazine format studio audience and postsegment discussions And before the end of 2016 NGC will present a primetime special titled amp8220Earth Liveamp8221 in which nature will unfold live on all seven continents If this does well amp8220Earth Liveamp8221 could become a semiannual or quarterly event As for scripted two series have been greenlighted amp8220Black 22amp8221 about an allblack police unit in the 1920s and amp8220Blood Ivoryamp8221 dramatizing efforts to control animal contrabandpoaching worldwide Look for a number of other scripted series to head into production later this year Monroe promised At Nat Geo WILD new series will include amp8220Savage Kingdomamp8221 animal predators and prey in battle with each episode taking one animal39s point of view and amp8220Project Puppyamp8221 families raising pooches through adoptionamp160 No scripted projects at WILD yet though the idea of scripted series there has been raised Grade 45 JacksHost Monroe impressively commanded the proceedings assisted by plenty of video clips and near the end a cute amp8220Project Puppyamp8221 candidate Her shining quip quotI can only hope we can pass the Kardashians one day as the celebrity brand on Instagram For now we39ll be the leading noncelebrity brand therequot Grade 35 JacksStar Time It was great to see Ron Howard discuss amp8220Marsamp8221 in person but I wished he could stick around postpresentation to be with many of the press folks in attendance Grade 3 JacksCuisine It was as chic as the environment Best chowdown The duck prosciutto on top of a fontina cheese glaze Even better thirstquencher Green coconut iced tea Worst chowdown Those baked eggs Yuck Grade 25 JacksOverall Grade 4 Jacksamp160 A presentation that stayed on point coupled with a fitting environment and video clips demonstrating the quotpremiumquot experience ahead for viewers and advertisers alikeAs a reminder our Jacks ratings are as followsA quick reminder of our Jacks grading system5 Jacks Excellent4 Jacks Very Good3 Jacks Good2 Jacks Fair1 Jack Poor0 Jacks Donamp8217t go thereNext up Scripps Networks InteractiveUntil the next time stay well and stay tunedThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers

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Upfront News and Views: National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD

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