ABC News' Woodruff to Host ‘Eco-Cast’ for Discovery's Planet Green

Weekly Show to Debut in July, to Be Produced by ABC News

By Anne Becker -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/23/2008 12:27:00 PM

ABC News’ Bob Woodruff will anchor an environmentally themed newscast for Discovery Communications’ Planet Green when the cable channel launches in June.

Slated to premiere in July, the weekly show will be produced by ABC News and will include in-studio roundtable discussions, feature pieces and debates about eco-issues such as climate impact and environmental policy. Discovery plans to announce the news show at its New York upfront presentation to advertisers Wednesday afternoon.

The show, which Discovery is calling an “eco-cast,” will tap into ABC News’ reporting and producing teams worldwide, the network said. Planet Green is slated to launch June 4 with some 250 hours of original programming using the bandwidth from the existing Discovery Home Channel. Other shows include projects with Leonardo DiCaprio, Adrian Grenier and Emeril Lagasse.

“Planet Green is committed to broadening awareness about the state of the environment and the role each of us can play in securing a brighter future for our planet,” Planet Green president and general manager Eileen O’Neill said. “Bob brings a depth of global experience coupled with an unparalleled journalistic integrity to this important conversation.”

Woodruff has been covering news stories for ABC again since February 2007, when he rejoined the network after being seriously injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq 13 months earlier during a field report. At the time he was co-anchor of World News Tonight.

“I’ve traveled around the world covering a wide range of stories, but the environment is one story that knows no boundaries or limitations in terms of its impact on humanity,” Woodruff said. “It affects us all, and I am deeply committed to shining a light on the challenges facing our planet and its inhabitants, as well as on solutions going forward.”

Woodruff has been with ABC News since 1996 covering world events including the war in Iraq and the tension over nuclear weapons in North Korea. His work won the network an Alfred I. DuPont Award and a George Foster Peabody Award.