National Geographic Society To Premiere 'Great Migrations' Globally In Fall 2010

Group's Largest, Multiplatform Initiative Will Center On Seven-Hour TV Event

Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 10/21/2009 9:20:50 AM

National Geographic Society and National Geographic Channels will globally bow a seven-hour miniseries event in fall 2010.
Still in production, Great Migrations, the largest undertaking in the National Geographic Society's 120-year history, will be presented in high-definition and include four core hours focused on animal migrations across the globe.
Additional hours will include a special that investigates the science behind animal migration (airing as part of NGC's signature series Explorer in the United States); a behind-the-scenes special on the advanced technology required to capture the spectacular footage and rare behaviors documented during the filming; and an hour-long visual concert comprised of the footage set to original music.
The project will chronicle the inspirational, often harrowing, journeys, unforgiving odds and what it means to move like your life depends on it. Wildebeests, zebras, red crabs, Mali elephants, kob, walruses, monarch butterflies, jellyfish and whale sharks will all be on display, as the production crew has traveled some 420,000 miles to every continent, filming hundreds of stories in more than 20 different countries.
This global programming event will offer leading marketers the largest partnership opportunity available in the history of the networks, which encompasses a global advertising platform reaching 166 countries and 315 million households.
Additional global extensions can include related advertising across the international editions of National Geographic magazine, available in 33 languages and read by 35 million people monthly around the world. National Geographic Channel U.S. will give sponsors unprecedented integration throughout Great Migrations' comprehensive consumer marketing campaign and will develop specific solutions for sponsors within four key partnership levels - presenting, lead, supporting and associate - all with high-impact advertiser extensions, including integration throughout multimedia platforms such as video on demand and online.
"The scope of this project draws upon all of the Society's passion for the natural world," said Michael Rosenfeld, president of National Geographic Television, in a statement.  "We are using every resource at our disposal to produce and distribute this spectacular content in a coordinated effort across all media platforms. Many of the planet's great migrations are at risk, so the series is going to illuminate the fragile existence of these great animal movements and inspire a worldwide movement to protect them."