Upfronts: Discovery to Air Endangered Species Docu

(UPDATED) Discovery Channel will air a documentary film exposing the hidden world of endangered species and a new scripted series on the history of Harley-Davidson as part of its 2015-16 programming slate, the network announced Tuesday morning during Discovery Communications’ upfront presentation.

The documentary, Race Extinction, follows a team of artists and activists as they seek to chronicle endangered species and the race to protect them against mass extinction. The film will serve as the launch of a larger, ongoing campaign to reduce carbon emissions and the prevention of species extinction, said network executives.

Discovery will develop its second scripted series, Harley-Davidson, based on the lives of William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson and their creation of the motorcycle brand that has shaped the cultural landscape, said the network.

 Other new unscripted series and specials include Naked And Afraid XL, a spinoff special of the network’s popular competition series; Treasure Quest, a series that follows several explorers searching for Icon gold know and the Treasure Of the Trinity stolen in 1524; Pacific Warriors, which chronicles Hawaiian men and women who fish using only a kayak and a paddle; Lunar XPrize, a space exploration/competition series pitting teams looking to land a robot on the moon; Killing Fields, which uses the most up to date science advancements and technologies to uncover crimes that have gone undetected due to their geography; and Cuban Chrome, which follows Cuban car enthusiasts who restore classic American cars.

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.