All the programs produced under the partnership will be distributed internationally through Explore International, a joint venture of National Geographic Television and Canal Plus in France. Our collaboration will attract the best talent to some of the most exciting natural science programming on television today. The production alliance will be managed by Fred Kaufman, who is director of natural history programs at WNET, and Keenan Smart, head of National Geographic Television's Natural History Unit. WNET's science, natural history, and features unit is headed up by William Grant. Keenan Smart, executive producer for the Natural History Unit of National Geographic Television, is responsible for the creation and supervision of all natural history productions for National Geographic Television and oversees the NHU's own team of scientists and area specialists with connections to the best scientists and filmmakers around the world.
Additional support is provided by the nation's public television stations.
WNET is the flagship PBS station broadcasting to almost twenty million people each week and producing approximately one-third of the national programming on public television. In addition to producing such science, natural history, and travel series as In the Wild, Innovation, and Going Places, WNET also produces PBS series and specials, including Great Performances, American Masters, and In the Spotlight. NGT's business enterprise with NBC has resulted in the development of National Geographic Channels Worldwide, which launched with local partners throughout the global marketplace, beginning with BSkyB in the U.K., Ireland, Scandinavia, Finland, and Australia. At present, NGT's programming can be seen in the U.S. on NBC, TBS Superstation, and PBS, as well as through syndication and home video, and internationally through more than 100 different outlets in some 90 territories worldwide.