Hollywood -- Discovery Health Channel will air a live 10-hour block of
programming in February that will showcase the labor, delivery and birth of
babies from several medical centers around the country.
The unprecedented event, Birth Day Live, will air Feb. 17 and follow
patients, doctors and nurses involved in deliveries at three major U.S.
hospitals, Discovery Health senior vice president and general manager Bob Reid
said at the Television Critics Association winter press tour here.
The show, developed in association with the March of Dimes, will be hosted by
former anchor at Cable News Network and NBC Nightly News Mary Alice
Williams.
Reid said the marathon was created to focus attention on the issues
surrounding healthy births and the growing incidence of premature births in the
United States.
It's unclear whether Discovery Health will employ a seven-second delay in
case of any complications during birth.
Meanwhile, Discovery Channel announced that it will launch a monthly strand
of documentaries that will focus on today's most important social, political and
historical subjects.
Discovery Vision will launch Feb. 26 with a one-hour show about the
threat posed by biological weapons, hosted by NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw,
Discovery Channel executive VP and GM Clark Bunting said.
On March 26, the network will also air a one-hour documentary hosted by
New York Times reporter Thomas Friedman. Thomas L. Friedman Reporting:
Searching for the Roots of 9/11 will explore the multifaceted attitudes and
opinions about America within the Middle East, Bunting said.
Elsewhere in the Discovery Networks U.S. stable, Travel Channel announced the
March premiere of several new series including World Poker Tour,
featuring the best poker players from around the world, and Jim Rose Twisted
Tour, which focuses on the road experiences of a unique group of
performers.
The network will also launch Road Trip, a series based on its
successful TV Road Trip series. The skein will launch April 3 with
another segment that visits several locations made famous by television shows.
Other episodes will focus on popular movies, sports and fireworks sites.
On Jan. 31, Animal Planet will premiere a new reality series, Pet
Star, a Star Search-like vehicle for animals. On March 9, the network
will debut Giant Monsters, a series hosted by Animal Planet personality
Jeff Corwin that utilizes computer-generated imagery to simulate what some of
today's animals looked like millions of years ago.
