Animal Planet Reveals A New Species Of Entertainment For 2008

-- New Logo and Content, Brand Campaign Transport Viewers to the "Same Planet.
Different World" -

SILVER SPRING, Md., Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- When Animal Planet relaunches
in the first week of February, 2008, viewers will find compelling programming
that features man's best friend juxtaposed with ferocious lions in their
natural habitat. The way the stories are told and the lens through which
viewers see these tales will change dramatically. The network will launch
eight new series and specials in February alone, all designed to reach a more
adult audience with gripping entertainment rather than pure observational
documentary and host-driven formats. The new Animal Planet will also be
expressed through new graphics, a new feel and new sounds that bring out the
raw, visceral emotion in the animal kingdom -- all leading viewers to see
animals as characters not merely creatures.
The new programming on Animal Planet will tap into the instincts that
drive us all -- fear, hunger, pleasure, nurture -- with compelling stories
that resonate with what it means to be human. New content coming to the
network includes new docu-soaps (ESCAPE TO CHIMP EDEN, LEMUR KINGDOM); pet
entertainment (PETFINDER, GROOMER HAS IT, CLINICALLY WILD); and unscripted
dramas (WHALE WARS, AFTER THE ATTACK, A YEAR WITH LIONS), as well as the
return of PUPPY BOWL, the AKC/EUKANUBA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP and MUTUAL OF
OMAHA'S WILD KINGDOM.
"In an increasingly technological, rational, pressured, thoughtful and
well-socialized environment, there is an enormous desire for unmediated,
intensely felt, visceral, in-the-moment experiences," notes Marjorie Kaplan,
president and general manager of Animal Planet Media. "And animals, in real
life and in great, archetypical stories, are a short cut to those instinctual
feelings. In a world of intellectual or clever television or lightweight
entertainment, Animal Planet is television that gets you where you live --
literally -- in your gut."
"Consumers will be surprised at the unexpected new face of entertainment
we're bringing to them on-air and online," added Victoria Lowell, senior vice
president of marketing for Animal Planet Media. "The new campaign will change
consumers' perceptions of our brand. There is so much goodwill to the brand,
and now we've got to translate that goodwill to increased viewership."
Noted photographer Jill Greenberg -- who shot a series of primates for an
exhibition and recent book entitled Monkey Portraits -- photographed animals
for the brand campaign exclusively for Animal Planet. Greenberg has a
signature style portraying animals' unique personalities and showcasing their
uncanny emotions, and Lowell notes, "Jill's imagery captures the new Animal
Planet point of view of the animal kingdom."
Mono, based in Minneapolis, is the creative agency executing the brand
campaign. Dunning, Eley and Jones, based in London, is the design agency
behind the new logo and on-air look.
Animal Planet Media (APM), a multimedia business unit of Discovery
Communications, LLC, connects humans and animals with rich, deep content via
multiple platforms and offers animal lovers and pet owners access to a
centralized online, television and mobile community for entertainment,
information and enrichment. APM consists of the Animal Planet television
network, available in more than 94 million homes in the U.S.; online assets
www.animalplanet.com, the ultimate online destination for all things
animal; the 24/7 broadband channel, Animal Planet Beyond; Petfinder.com, the
#1 pet-related Web property globally that facilitates pet adoption;
PetsIncredible, a major producer and distributor of pet-training videos that
includes the Web service PetVideo.com; and other media platforms, including a
robust Video-on-Demand (VOD) service, mobile content, and merchandising
extensions.
SOURCE Animal Planet

Brian Eley of Animal Planet, +1-240-662-2957, brian_eley@discovery.com