BBC Worldwide Press Releases

BBC Earth – a brand new programming block showcasing the very best in natural history programming from the BBC – will launch across the world on BBC Knowledge from March 2011, giving viewers a ringside seat to some of the most beautiful, bizarre and enchanting creatures from the natural world.

BBC Earth will make its debut on BBC Knowledge first in Australia on March 4, launching with the spectacular landmark series Planet Earth, narrated by Sir David Attenborough. The block will then premiere in Asia on March 31 with Planet Earth and Wild China and in Poland on April 3 with Nature's Great Events before rolling out in Africa and Scandinavia on May 8. BBC Earth programming will also feature in the schedules of BBC Knowledge in Italy and New Zealand, the newest channels in BBC Worldwide's portfolio, which both launch in March 2011.

Further BBC Earth programmes set to roll out on BBC Knowledge later in the year include the critically-acclaimed South Pacific, Galapagos, Life in the Undergrowth, Life in Cold Blood and Life of Mammals.

David Weiland, BBC Worldwide Channels' SVP Programming & TV Channels said, "The launch of BBC Earth on BBC Knowledge marks an exciting new era for the BBC's international networks. The BBC's ground-breaking Natural History content now has an exclusive home back on the BBC internationally and we hope BBC Earth will become a regular weekly destination that will captivate and entertain our viewers, bringing them closer to the natural world than ever before."

BBC Earth draws from one of the world's largest and most diverse natural history archives, spanning 50 years of programme making from the BBC Natural History Unit, globally recognised for its quality and innovation. The BBC Earth catalogue consists of over 1,000 titles that make up over 2,200 hours of programming showcasing the beauty, the wonders and the stories of the wild world. With so many rare moments captured on film, no one gets you closer.

BBC natural history content is now united under the BBC Earth brand, and can be experienced by audiences on television or DVD; online via sites such as Life Is; in books and magazines; feature films including the recently announced Walking with Dinosaurs 3D or at a live show such as Planet Earth Live.

Harriet Otoo