National Geographic announced a slate of more than a dozen upcoming original programs Monday, all of which are produced by the brand but will debut exclusively on Disney Plus — not on the Nat Geo cable channel. But despite the shift, Nat Geo content president Courteney Monroe promised that it’s not a sign that the Disney-owned brand has completely moved away from linear content.
“I realize that all of my announcements today were for Disney Plus originals, but that in no way diminishes our focus and investment in National Geographic programming for the linear channel,” Monroe told reporters Monday during Nat Geo’s virtual presentation at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. “We just so happened to have greenlit a lot of really big, exciting shows for Disney Plus over the last few months, and today, TCA was a perfect opportunity to share them with you. And obviously, Disney Plus is a very important strategic focus for us. But the linear platform, the linear channels around the world are also a very important platform.”
While Monroe noted “the lion’s share” of Nat Geo-produced content is unscripted, “fact-based, premium scripted drama is really an important part of our premium programing mix,” like the “Genius” franchise — which is moving to Disney Plus, as previously announced. The fourth season of “Genius” will focus on Martin Luther King, Jr. and, per Monroe, will not be ready to air in 2022.
Also not coming this year — or probably ever — is a second season of “The Right Stuff,” which was canceled at Disney Plus in April 2021.
“We have no plans for a second season of ‘The Right Stuff’ right now,” Monroe said. “I have a lot of heart for that series. And it just didn’t, in the end, find an audience on Disney Plus. So we’re not actively developing a second season, but I learned a long time ago never to say never. So I’m not going to say never.”
Among the Disney Plus-bound projects announced by Nat Geo on Monday are non-fiction series “Pole to Pole,” which follows Will Smith on a journey from the South Pole to the North Pole; “Great Migrations,” a look at organisms’ migrations from Plimsoll Productions; “Home,” a portrait of life on Earth from BBC Studios Natural History Unit; “Secrets of the Elephants” and “Secrets of the Octopus,” two James Cameron executive produced series; “Sentient,” from Darren Aronofsky and Wildstar Films; “Super/Natural,” a Benedict Cumberbatch-narrated series from James Cameron and Plimsoll Productions; “The Biggest Little Farm Series,” a documentary series about a biodiverse farm; “Beyond Belief With David Blaine,” which follows the magician on global travels in a series form Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Documentaries; “Epic Adventures of Bertie Gregory,” from filmmaker Bertie Gregory; and “Photographer,” which has E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin documenting one of the world’s greatest photographers.
They will follow in the footsteps of other Nat Geo series premiering on Disney Plus, like the upcoming docuseries “Limitless,” starring Chris Hemsworth (pictured above).
Per Monroe, Nat Geo-branded TV channels “have considerable reach still, in 173 countries around the world” and Disney-owned company is “still investing in the same number of hours” into content that premieres on linear networks as it has previously.
“So the investment in Disney Plus originals really sit on top of that,” Monroe said. “And the beautiful thing is, the shows that we launch on the linear channels will find their forever home on Disney Plus, where they can drive engagement and maybe find some new audiences as well.”
For example, Monroe noted that “Earth Day is a big day for National Geographic across all platforms” and content pegged to the event will air on both the National Geographic channel and Disney Plus.
As for whether any of those new Disney Plus programs will eventually make their way over to Nat Geo on cable, Monroe said those “kind of conversations are are underway.”
“And actually, the decision for which platform and windowing of content, thankfully, is a complicated one and rests with my colleagues on the business and distribution side of The Walt Disney Company,” Monroe said. “My job is just to create the very, very best National Geographic content, regardless of platform. But I think those conversations are underway.”