Upfronts 2013: Nat Geo Orders Four New Series; Renews Seven

New projects include ‘Building Wild,' ‘Legend of Mick Dodge'

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/25/2013 12:01:00 AM

At last year's upfront, National Geographic Channel was in the midst of transitioning its programming strategy from one-off specials to character-fronted series, and having seen its ratings grow 22% among adults 25-54 in 2012, it enters this year's upfront with something new - returning franchises.

The network on Monday announced five series to return for the 2013-14 season: Doomsday Preppers, Wicked Tuna, Diggers, Alaska State Troopers and Night of Exploration. It has also preemptively renewed two series yet to premiere - April's Brain Games and May's Ultimate Survival Alaska - for second seasons.

In the hopes of building on that momentum, Nat Geo has also ordered four new series including Building Wild, the network's take on a DIY show where Paul DiMeo (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition) helps people build wilderness retreats. Other series are Die Trying, featuring men and women pushing the limits of adventure, endurance and possibility in the name of science; cutting edge inventions pitted against each other in Showdown of the Unbeatables; and The Legend of Mick Dodge following the titular man who lives off the land and off the grid in the Pacific Northwest, and whom execs hope will be a transformative character for the channel.

"I think every channel needs them in today's competitive marketplace. We think that Mick Dodge is that guys for us," NGC president Howard T. Owens says of the man who has lived in the wild for the last 25 years. "I like to think of [the series] as Forrest Gump meets Middle Earth."

Nat Geo will follow up on 2012's record-breaking Killing Lincoln movie with Killing Kennedy, also based on the book by Bill O'Reilly, which details the events leading up to the assassination of JFK. Also on tap is the special Miracle on the Hudson, which goes inside Captain Sully's historic landing on the Hudson River.

Lincoln was Nat Geo's first scripted production and as it ranked as the network's highest-rated broadcast ever, it "proved that we could offer up National Geographic Channel subject matter in a variety of contemporary ways," said Nat Geo CEO David Lyle.

As such, NGC has ordered the scripted American Blackout, a found-footage style movie which explores what happens after a cyberattack takes out the East Coast power grid. Fittingly, the two-hour event will lead in to the third season premiere of Doomsday Preppers.