Discovery Communications launches DISCOVERY ATLAS, a global media event that transports viewers to 30 countries around the world using captivating photography, high quality production values and high-definition technology to capture the world like never before. Rich in scholarship and majestic in visual beauty, DISCOVERY ATLAS is the latest global initiative by Discovery Communications that helps viewers explore their world and satisfytheir natural curiosity.
Over the next five years, this extraordinary narrative will focus on the rich cultures, geography and natural phenomena of some of the world′s oldest and most diverse countries. The journey begins Sunday, October 1, 2006, at 9 PM (ET/PT) with the global world premiere on the Discovery Channel and Discovery HD Theater of DISCOVERY ATLAS: CHINA REVEALED, as narrated by Emmy award-winning actor James Spader.
China will be followed by explorations of the people, cultures and land. DISCOVERY ATLAS: ITALY REVEALED (Sunday, October 8), DISCOVERY ATLAS: BRAZIL REVEALED (Sunday, October 15) and DISCOVERY ATLAS: AUSTRALIA REVEALED (Sunday, October 22). All programs begin at 9 PM (ET/PT). DISCOVERY ATLAS is Discovery Communications′ most ambitious global project to date, touching every division of DCI.
Discovery′s International Networks will broadcast global world premieres in more than 170 countries and territories, and Discovery HD Theater will simulcast each DISCOVERY ATLAS special, illuminating each country with the latest in stunning, highquality HD technology. Discovery Education will add DISCOVERY ATLAS video to its robust education offering via COSMEO, the new online homework help tool from Discovery Channel, as well as to its unitedstreaming product, which is the leading educational digital video-on-demand service and the only service proven to increase student achievement. DISCOVERY ATLAS branded subject areas featured on both COSMEO and unitedstreaming include culture, economics, industry, technology, religion, the arts and geography. Discovery Commerce will offer DISCOVERY ATLAS DVDs and HD DVDs in Discovery Channel stores and via its online store (shopping.discovery.com)
DISCOVERY ATLAS: CHINA REVEALED
Sunday, October 1, 9 PM (ET/PT)
Of the 1.3 billion stories in China today, viewers will join rice farmers tilling land their ancestors have worked for 18 centuries and monks teaching a 500-year-old discipline. Viewers will also share the dreams of a 12-year-old Olympic hopeful gymnast and Shanghai′s key development tycoon, exploring where tradition meets the explosion of modernity in life behind the Great Wall.
DISCOVERY ATLAS: ITALY REVEALED
Sunday, October 8, 9 PM (ET/PT)
Six stories weave the love of land, lineage, style and passion in DISCOVERY ATLAS: ITALY REVEALED. From a jockey participating in the world′s fastest horse race, to a former fisherman setting a free-diving record off Sicily′s coast, to the Missoni family′s fashion world and a Venetian gondolier′s attempt to keep his family in his native city, inhale and enjoy the spectacle and the beauty that is Italy.
DISCOVERY ATLAS: BRAZIL REVEALED
Sunday, October 15, 9 PM (ET/PT)
Brazil is an exhilarating and spontaneous country of contradictions and possibilities. Where else do paupers become princes and the world′s biggest party become a deadly serious competition? DISCOVERY ATLAS: BRAZIL REVEALED showcases one of the most ethnically diverse nations on earth, exploring stories from the Amazon to São Paolo′s hair-raising helicopter commute.
DISCOVERY ATLAS: AUSTRALIA REVEALED
Sunday, October 22, 9 PM (ET/PT)
One of earth′s youngest nations with one of its oldest indigenous populations, Australia is a land of contrasts. The country is a captivating mix of desolation and riches, from the harsh life of the outback in its interior to the welcoming, fertile lands of its coastline.
