National Geo Renews Series, Adds Specials

‘Taboo,’ ‘Locked Up,’ ‘Dog Town’ Returning for New Season

By Jon Lafayette

National Geographic Channel has ordered new seasons of three series and a slew of specials on subjects ranging from bibles to sharks to Nazis.

The returning series are “Taboo,” entering its fourth season, and “Locked Up Abroad” and “Dog Town,” both back for a second year.

In its second season, “Dog Town” will look at a huge “no-kill” facility for abandoned dogs in Utah where several dogs that were owned by Michael Vick are being rehabilitated. Mr. Vick, the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback, was sentenced to 23 months in prison on dog-fighting charges last year.

In “Locked Up Abroad,” Americans find themselves imprisoned in locales including Uganda, Korea and Chechnya.

Also joining the schedule is a new series, “World’s Toughest Fixes,” which looks at how repairs are executed on giant structures such as jumbo jets, nuclear power plants and oil rigs.

“It’s a mix of specials and series I believe are going to find large audiences,” said Steve Burns, who re-joined the network as executive VP of content last July. “I think the whole world has always been Geographic’s beat. The science, the animals, the cultures, all those are fair game for Geographic, and we’re presenting the best in all those genres.”

Just five years after its launch, Nat Geo now ranks as the No. 36 ad-supported cable network based on total viewers in prime time during the first quarter. In that first quarter, viewership was down 3% after a series of strong increases.

Brad Dancer, VP of research and digital media at Nat Geo, said the drop was attributable to the surge of interest in the presidential primary campaigns, which drew viewers away from nonfiction programming. Even with the drop, it was the network’s second-best quarter ever, and at this point in the second quarter, ratings are up 10%, he said.

Mr. Burns said the first-quarter drop wasn’t affecting his programming strategy for the network.

“We have a responsibility to present entertaining nonfiction, and we’re doing it better than anybody,” he said.

Among specials in the works are more installments of Nat Geo’s “Inside” franchise, with segments planned that look at neo-Nazis, Black Panthers and the Ku Klux Klan.

The network also is doing a special called “Human Tool Kit” that uses graphics from the upcoming video game Spore, from the creator of The Sims, to explain principles of evolution.
Specials about natural history include “White Lions” and “Clash of the Hyenas,” both produced by Aquavision.

The rest of the slate includes “Bible Mystery” (a scientific examination of a 165-pound volume), “1000 Roman Soldiers,” “Deep Wreck Mysteries” and “Grand Canyon Skywalk.”
Nat Geo also has lined up a special about sharks—a subject more often associated with Discovery Channel.

Nat Geo’s “Shark Pit,” another Aquavision production, examines a cave where the killers of the deep appear to relax and aren’t their legendary aggressive selves, even when confronted with a diver.

When Mr. Burns became the top programmer at Nat Geo, he replaced John Ford, who now runs Discovery Channel.

Mr. Burns said he often runs into Mr. Ford as they compete for projects.

“We’re capturing most of the best projects because we are a lot more nimble and can make decisions quickly,” Mr. Burns said.

In response, Mr. Ford said, “We have a full, robust pipeline that speaks for itself.”