Watch and Win With 'Be the Explorer' on National Geographic Channel; Promotion Includes Online Contest, eBay Auction, AOL Video Clips 9/15/2003
From: Russell Howard of the National Geographic Channel, 202-912-6652, RHoward@natgeochannel.com, Nord R. Wennerstrom, 202-822-9491, NWennerstrom@fratelli.com, or Cathy L. Saypol, (nat. television contact), 212-288-8496, Saypolpr@aol.com WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 -- Care to step out of your comfort zone? Want to explore world mysteries, cultures, and your own limits? Are you feeling adventurous? Then tune into "Be the Explorer" Week on the National Geographic Channel (NGC), and log on to the "Be the Explorer Challenge" for a chance to win an "extreme" family vacation by answering questions based on the programming. You can also check out the online charity auction and bid for pieces of National Geographic exploration history on eBay, The World's Online Marketplace(r). From Monday, September 29 to Saturday, October 4, join award-winning filmmakers and "creature adventurers" Martin and Chris Kratt as they host "Be the Explorer" Week. Each night will feature a two-hour block from 8 - 10 p.m. ET/PT of the best exploration programming on NGC, taking viewers on a global journey down roads less traveled. From scorching African deserts and jungles to the freezing depths of the Atlantic, enter rarely seen worlds and imagine testing your mettle in the unusual and sometimes extreme conditions featured. Want the chance to live your own adventure? NGC has partnered with Nissan and Intel to bring you the "Be the Explorer Challenge," giving you a chance to win a family rafting adventure for four down the Colorado River. Beginning Monday, September 15, log on to http://www.nationalgeographic.com/channel and answer trivia questions pegged to each night of programming. You are then automatically entered in the contest for a chance to win the grand prize or any of the daily prizes including mountain bikes, digital cameras, GPS equipment and other exploration gear. Nissan and Intel are the official sponsors of "Be the Explorer" Week and the "Be the Explorer Challenge," and will be featured in online, radio, broadcast and cable television spots. You can also own a piece of a National Geographic expedition. NGC created an online charity auction on eBay to benefit the National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration. Bid on maps, manuscripts, devices and equipment used in the field - and all tied to "Be the Explorer" Week programming. Additionally, you can bid on special packages of apparel and gear to outfit you for your own expedition. Find the link to the charity auction, which closes on Thursday, October 2, at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/channel. NGC has teamed up with America Online to promote the "Be the Explorer Challenge" and the charity auction. AOL members will be able to access exclusive program clips from "Be the Explorer" Week, special photo galleries, and Challenge quiz questions. In addition, members can connect directly to the Challenge and auction via special links throughout the AOL service. "Be the Explorer" Week programming includes the following: Monday, September 29 -- "Into the Great Pyramid" (8-10 p.m. ET/PT) Join National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Dr. Zahi Hawass as he goes in search of answers to two of history's most perplexing mysteries: how the Great Pyramid of Giza was built and who executed the awe-inspiring enterprise. Tuesday, September 30 -- "Africa Extreme" (8-9 p.m. ET/PT) Trek through a remote and largely unexplored part of Africa where you'll encounter gorillas, elephants -- and even a band of chimps that have never seen humans before. Join ecologist, Dr. Michael Fay, photographer Nick Nichols, and their team as they set out on foot to survey the biological richness of a forest ecosystem, from the flatlands of northern Congo to the coast of Gabon. The journey, named the Megatransect, takes the team across 1200 miles of dense jungle and two nations, battling leeches, tsetse flies, foot worms, malaria, hepatitis, raging rapids and deep sucking mud. Tuesday, September 30 -- "Going to Extremes: Hot" (9-10 p.m. ET/PT) Join Dr. Nick Middleton as he travels the world seeking out the most remote and inhospitable environments on the planet. In this special, he treks to Dallol, Ethiopia at the hottest time of year -- when temperatures average 104 degrees Fahrenheit -- to meet with salt miners who work through the mid-day sun digging blocks of salt from the "Dallol Depression," with no water and no vegetation to shelter them. Wednesday, October 1 -- "Ultimate Enemies" (8-10 p.m. ET/PT) A wandering pride of lions and a herd of elephants come together at a remote water hole in Botswana. Drought-like conditions force these two dominant species to come into unusually close and frequent contact. The consequences -- cooperative predation by lions on healthy, full-sized adult elephants -- are captured in a stunning film by the acclaimed documentary team of Dereck and Beverly Joubert. Shot on 35mm film over eight years, "Ultimate Enemies" tells the powerful story of primal instincts and survival in a harsh and unforgiving place. Thursday, October 2 -- "Sea Hunters: Andrea Gail" (8-9 p.m. ET/PT) With waves ten stories high and winds over 190 kilometers per hour, the North Atlantic Nor'easter now known as "The Perfect Storm" swallowed the Andrea Gail and all her crew in the fall of 1991. The wreck is thought to have occurred near Sable Island, a fabled 'graveyard of the Atlantic.' Join the Sea Hunters as they search for the Andrea Gail and visit her home port of Gloucester, Massachusetts and its centuries-old history of triumph and tragedy at sea. Thursday, October 2 -- "Search for Submarine I-52" (9-10 p.m. ET/PT) Travel three miles below the ocean surface to locate a sunken WW II submarine to try and recover its precious cargo: over two tons of gold. Deep-sea submersibles catch the first glimpse of the vessel that sank over 50 years ago. Submarine I-52's doomed journey and secret mission is retold through historical footage and interviews with veterans credited with sinking the ship all those years ago. Friday, October 3 -- "Snake Hunter" (8-9 p.m. ET/PT) Join herpetologist Rom Whitaker on a snake-hunting adventure through North America. Dodge water moccasins in the swamps of South Carolina and peer into a garter snake mating ball in the remote interlake region of Manitoba, Canada. Friday, October 3 -- "Great White, Deep Trouble" (9-10 p.m. ET/PT) Twenty-five years after his best-selling novel Jaws made an entire generation afraid to go into the ocean, author Peter Benchley teams up with National Geographic's premier marine photographer, David Doubilet, to explore the hidden life of one of the world's most fearsome predators... the great white shark. Witness seldom-seen great white behavior and groundbreaking research on shark intelligence, as we travel outside the safe confines of the iron diving cage and into shark-filled waters. Saturday, October 4 -- "SuperCroc" (8-10 p.m. ET/PT) "SuperCroc" follows Dr. Paul Sereno, paleontologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, as he discovers the remains of a 110-million-year-old relative of the modern crocodile. National Geographic reptile expert Dr. Brady Barr, host of Reptile Wild with Dr. Brady Barr, joins Dr. Sereno, and, working together, the two renowned scientists look for clues to help create an accurate life-size reconstruction of this ancient beast that weighed as much as 10 tons and reached an estimated 40 feet in length -- the size of a city bus. ------ Based at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Channel is a joint venture between National Geographic Television & Film and Fox Cable Networks. National Geographic Channel debuted to an initial 10 million homes in January 2001, and is one of only four new networks to ever surpass 20 million subscribing homes within its first year. The Channel has carriage with all but one of the nation's most significant cable and satellite television providers, making it currently available to more than 45 million homes. For more information, please visit http://www.nationalgeographic.com/channel. Media Contacts: Russell Howard, National Geographic Channel, 202-912-6652, RHoward@natgeochannel.com Nord R. Wennerstrom, The Fratelli Group, 202-822-9491, NWennerstrom@fratelli.com Cathy L. Saypol, (national television contact), 212-288-8496, Saypolpr@aol.com |