National Geographic Channel Honored With Record 18 Emmy Award Nominations, Including 12 Nominations With Fox for ‘Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey’

(Washington, D.C. / Los Angeles, CA; July 10, 2014)  National Geographic Channel (NGC) today received the most Emmy Award nominations in the network’s history with 18 nominations, including 12 with FOX for Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.

With 12 nominations, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey tied such buzz-worthy shows as HBO’s True Detective and Netflix’s Orange is the New Black in nominations.

Additionally, NGC’s second foray into original scripted programming, Killing Kennedy, garnered three nominations, including outstanding television movie, outstanding cinematography and outstanding sound mixing.

Nat Geo WILD also scored two nominations for outstanding narrator for Jeremy Irons for Game of land Daniel Craig for One Life.

“We are incredibly honored for the recognition this year, especially for Cosmos and the great collaborative effort that series marked between Cosmos Studios and our partners at FOX,” said Courteney Monroe, CEO of the National Geographic Channels. “Additionally, as we continue to explore opportunities in the scripted world, to receive a nomination for only our second movie is a thrill.”

See the full list of NGC nominations below:

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (NGC & FOX)
Outstanding Documentary of Nonfiction Series
Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming
Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming
Outstanding Art Direction for Variety, Nonfiction, Reality or Reality-Competition Program
Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming
Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming
Outstanding Main Title Design
Outstanding Music Composition for a Series
Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music
Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming
Outstanding Sound Mixing for Nonfiction Programming
Outstanding Special and Visual Effects

Cosmos (NGC)
Outstanding Short-Format Nonfiction Program: COSMOS: A National Geographic Deeper Dive

Killing Kennedy (NGC)
Outstanding Television Movie
Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Movie
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie

One Life (Nat Geo WILD)
Outstanding Narrator: Daniel Craig

Game of Lions (Nat Geo WILD)
Outstanding Narrator: Jeremy Irons

About Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (Cosmos Studios):
The critically acclaimed Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, from executive producer/writer/director Ann Druyan and executive producer Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, Ted) and hosted by renowned astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, premiered its 13-episode run in the U.S with a historic partnership between a broadcast and cable network, airing on NGC and FOX each week. The series was promoted equally between the networks.    

Globally, Cosmos reached a massive audience of 135 million viewers worldwide, including the U.S., across its 13-episode run. Internationally, the series attracted 90 million viewers on NGC, while in the U.S., Cosmos reached more than 45 million viewers on FOX and NGC. The series received an unprecedented rollout, premiering on all 90 National Geographic Channels in 180 countries, as well as 120 FOX-branded channels in 125 countries, making this the largest global launch ever for a television series. Additionally, in the first-ever multinetwork launch for Fox Networks Group, Cosmos debuted simultaneously across multiple U.S. Fox networks including Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX), NGC, FX, FXX, FXM, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo Mundo and FOX Life.

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey is produced by Cosmos Studios, the Ithaca, N.Y.-based company Ann Druyan co-founded in 2000, and Fuzzy Door Productions, MacFarlane’s company. Druyan and Steven Soter are the series’ writers. Druyan, MacFarlane, Cosmos Studios President Mitchell Cannold and Brannon Braga (the Star Trek franchise, 24) executive-produce the series. Jason Clark (Ted, 42) co-executive produces. “Like” Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey on Facebook at facebook.com/COSMOSonTV. Follow the series on Twitter @COSMOSonTV and join the discussion at #cosmos.

About Killing Kennedy (Scott Free):
Killing Kennedy set record ratings for NGC when it premiered in November, timed to the 50th anniversary of the assassination, averaging a 2.8 HH rating — the second-highest HH in network history — and a 1.1 P25–54 on Sunday, Nov. 10, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Killing Kennedy also averaged 3.4 million persons 2+ over the entire two-hour premiere, the highest total viewership in NGC’s history!

Killing Kennedy stars Rob Lowe (President Kennedy) and Will Rothhaar (Lee Harvey Oswald), with Michelle Trachtenberg (Marina Oswald) and Ginnifer Goodwin (Jackie Kennedy). Produced by Scott Free Productions, directed by Nelson McCormick (The West Wing, ER, Southland, The Good Wife, The Closer), with a teleplay by award-winning playwright and screenwriter Kelly Masterson (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead), the stellar cast also includes Jack Noseworthy (Robert F. Kennedy), Francis Guinan (Lyndon B. Johnson) and Richard Flood (Kenneth O’Donnell).

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL presents a SCOTT FREE PRODUCTION
Killing Kennedy  Starring ROB LOWE WILL ROTHHAAR with MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG and GINNIFER GOODWIN   Casting by CARMEN CUBA ERICA ARVOLD Music by GEOFF ZANELLI produced by LARRY RAPAPORTExecutive Producers RIDLEY SCOTT  DAVID W. ZUCKER MARY LISIO BILL O’REILLY Based on the book by BILL O’REILLY & MARTIN DUGARD Written by KELLY MASTERSON Directed by NELSON McCORMICK

About Game of Lions (National Geographic Television):
From acclaimed filmmakers and National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert comes their next feature film, exclusively for Nat Geo WILD. There are 20,000 lions left on Earth. Only 3,500 of those are males. Although they are born at a 50/50 ratio, by the time they reach maturity, only one in eight male lions survive. The Jouberts take an unflinching look at what happens to the rest in this spirited, moving and heartbreaking film.

About One Life (BBC Earth):
One Life is produced by BBC Earth. For BBC Earth, executive producers are Amanda Hill, Neil Nightingale and Joe Oppenheimer. For NGC, senior vice president of production and development is Janet Han Vissering and general manager is Geoff Daniels.

Jessika Walsten

Jessika is an analyst for TVREV and Fabric Media. She previously served in various roles at Broadcasting + Cable, Multichannel News and NextTV, working with the brands since 2013. A graduate of USC Annenberg, Jessika has edited and reported on a variety of subjects in the media and entertainment space, including profiles on industry leaders and breaking news.