November 10, 2009

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL'S "PRESERVE OUR PLANET" CAMPAIGN NAMED RECIPIENT OF ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES 2008 GOVERNORS AWARD

Honor Will Be Presented at the 2008 Creative Arts Emmy® Awards

North Hollywood, CA –The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Board of Governors has voted to bestow its prestigious Governors Award to National Geographic Channel's "Preserve Our Planet Campaign," it was announced today by John Shaffner, Chairman of the Television Academy. This comes on the heels of National Geographic Channel’s 12 Emmy® Award nominations for news and documentaries, ― the most of any cable network this year and the largest number of nominations in the young channel’s history.

The Governors Award, which salutes an individual, company or organization that has made a substantial impact and demonstrated extraordinary use of television, will be presented at the 2008 Creative Arts Emmy® Awards on Saturday, September 13 at the NOKIA Theatre in Los Angeles.  (An edited version of the Creative Arts Awards will be shown on Saturday, September 20 at 8:00 PM, ET/PT on E!.)  Hal Eisner, Chairman of the Governors Award Nominating Committee, oversaw the selection process.

 “We salute this eye-opening campaign which really addresses the problems that our world is facing today,” said Shaffner.  "The campaign was informative, moving and deserving of this honor from the Television Academy's Board of Governors."

“The National Geographic Society has been dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet for a great many years; its part of our DNA,” said Steve Schiffman, General Manager and EVP, National Geographic Channel.  “As the climate crisis becomes more urgent, NGC has been strongly committed to providing actionable information for those who wants to make a change, and it is especially meaningful to have those efforts recognized by the Academy with this prestigious award.”

With environmental concerns reaching global proportions, National Geographic Channel launched a major initiative to inspire people to care about the Earth.  The result was "Preserve Our Planet," an unprecedented, long-term, multi-platform effort to help Americans understand the issues of environmental conservation and global survival. 

The goal was to reach out to viewers and present the facts; however, with many people growing weary of green messaging, National Geographic Channel needed to break through the clutter with more than a single program or theme week.  Instead they presented an imaginative, wide-ranging array of special documentaries, PSAs, online campaigns and outreach projects that featured simple, insightful and careful messaging.  The National Geographic specials included:

  • Six Degrees Could Change the World –Visualized in spectacular high definition, this two-hour special presented the consequences of raising the Earth’s temperature one degree at a time in the next century (February 10, 2008).
  • Aftermath: Population Zero – The role of humans on the planet was revealed in a thought provoking way: What would happen if people disappeared?  From just moments
    after extinction to thousands of years in the future, this two-hour special showed how nature would dominate, with surprising scientific insight into the long-lasting effects humans have had on the planet (March 9, 2008).
  • Human Footprint – An unprecedented look at the actual, physical consequences of a single life: All the food and resources used by an average American, laid out in a typical American setting over a two-hour TV event, including a display of 43,371 soda cans – a lifetime's use (April 13, 2008).
  • Earth Day 2007 – In an all-day TV event, National Geographic assessed the world from an environmental, ecological, wildlife and human standpoint in a variety of programs, PSAs and short films.  All examined the current state of the Earth, our  role in
    helping or hurting the progress of the planet, and offered tips on what individuals can do
    (April 22, 2008).
  • Naked Earth – This weekly series of documentaries tackled important topics such as “Our Atmosphere” (April 10, 2008), “Snowball Earth” (April 4, 2008) and “Glacier Meltdown” (April 22, 2008).

A series of PSAs under the tagline "What You Do Counts" focused on the awareness of our personal carbon footprint and demonstrated how simple daily choices affect its size in terms of pounds of CO2 that are created each year.  In addition, the channel established a special website - www.preserveourplanet.com - that showcased environmentally-themed programming. The first annual Preserve Our Planet Film and PSA contest was created to reach younger viewers on theme "What You Do Counts."  And finally, National Geographic Magazine and National Geographic Kids Magazine was utilized to advertise the campaign with the inclusion of a "Green List" column in the Kids Magazine on the theme, "What You Do Counts."

Last year, "American Idol Gives Back" and HBO's "Addiction" received the Governors Award. Past recipients include Jerry Lewis; Viacom, Inc. for its pro bono public outreach; Lifetime Network's "Stop the Violence Against Women" initiative; ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC for the 9/11 special “Supporting America: A Tribute to Heroes";  Walter Cronkite; Johnny Carson; Masterpiece Theatre; Lucille Ball; Bob Hope,; CNN; Showtime's diversity programming; PBS;Alistair Cooke; and,MTV's "Fight For Your Rights: Take a Stand Against Violence," among others.  This year’s Governors Award Committee is comprised of Television Academy Governors Russell Calabrese, Kevin Hamburger, Sharon Lieblein, Kate Linder, Nancy Thurston and Mark Watters.

A complete list of nominations and more information about the 60th Primetime Emmy® Awards is available for download below.

The 60th Primetime Emmy® Awards airs live from the NOKIA Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 21 (8:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the ABC Television Network.  AEG Ehrlich Ventures LLC is producing the telecast. Returning with Ehrlich are producer Renato Basile and co-producer Danette Herman.  Lou Horvitz will direct.

Download Complete Nominations and More



See the complete list of Primetime Emmy nominations and more information here:

Click links below for complete lists of the 2008 Primetime Emmy® Awards nominations, as tabulated by the independent accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP. Nominations are listed alphabetically by program within each category.

  • Complete 2008 Primetime Emmy® Nominations HTML  |  PDF WORD 

  • 2008 Primetime Emmy® Nomination Summary HTMLPDFWORD

  • 2007-2008 Primetime Emmy® Facts & Figures HTMLPDFWORD

  • 2007-2008 Primetime Emmy® Supplemental HTMLPDFWORD

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About the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences


The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences was founded in 1946 just one month after network television was born. It is a non-profit organization devoted to the advancement of telecommunications arts and sciences and to fostering creative leadership in the telecommunications industry.

In addition to recognizing outstanding programming through its Emmy® Award, the Television Academy publishes Emmy® Magazine and stages many industry-related programs, services and year-round events for the television community.

For additional press information and resources concerning the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, please direct your inquiries to Robin Mesger of The Lippin Group at (323) 965-1990.

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Press Contacts

For the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences:
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Pam Golum

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For ABC Media Relations:
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Jonathan Hogan

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Marsha Smith

(818) 460-6605

marsha.l.smith@abc.com

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