Animal Planet has announced a host of innovative programming initiatives for the 2002-2003 upfront season. The network‘s diverse schedule will feature more than 80 per cent original programming, with special emphasis placed on its dramatic programming. Animal Planet will also expand its original movie franchise with six original movies anticipated this year.

The network‘s first sitcom is anticipated this fall with the premiere of Baaad Dog!. It is a sardonic dog‘s-eye-view of a Los Angeles family struggling with the everyday challenges of living together under one roof. The channel also enters the field of computer animation for the first time with The Future is Wild. The series explores the evolution of animals far into the future based upon the predictions of international scientists.

Sonya Fitzpatrick is The Pet Psychic. The series chronicles Sonya‘s amazing interaction with an array of animals and humans who want to know what each other is thinking.

Animal Planet claims that its original movie The Retrievers shown last July was the network‘s highest-rated telecast ever (7/31/01). Despite events that slowed the growth of many American cable networks in the past months (9/11, Olympics, etc.), Animal Planet showed gains during these tough times. 4Q01 primetime HH ratings grew 5% more than the previous year, and 1Q02 ratings are currently 10% higher than the same period last year to 0.58%.

Animal Planet is projected to reach the 80 million household mark in America by the end of the year, faster than any American network in history, a company release states. This is a far cry from the situation in India where the channel is still trying to gain a foothold among audiences.

Black Mamba / Safari Special features the Black Mamba which is believed to be the most aggressive and fastest snake on earth. It‘s neurotoxic venom can kill in a few minutes. This special follows Donald Strydom, a Black Mamba specialist in South Africa, during the wet season in Africa when snakes are active and they come into human territory. Donald relocates the deadly snakes, while collecting their venom for research.

One of the films that will air on the channel is Grizzly Falls. Bryan Brown stars as an internationally renowned hunter and adventurer who takes his young son on a quest to make the boy into a man and exorcise the demons of his own past.

A sport for dogs Superstar Challenge sees American canine athletes descending upon Universal Studios. The competition involves the events Agility, Aqualaunch and Dirt Dog.

The Discovery Channel has announced that the 2002-03 season will include the launch of Discovery Channel Quest, a new initiative designed to inspire and fund the next generation of scientific achievement.

An official release informs that over the past two decades, the Discovery Channel has provided the resources for research that resulted in groundbreaking finds including the recovery of the Liberty Bell 7 space capsule, identification of two new dinosaur species.

Discovery Channel Quest seeks to expand this legacy by funding projects, scientists and explorers who are at the vanguard of their fields. These research activities will be chronicled via online and televised despatches from sites around the world, lecture series, and landmark television specials that capture the toil, genius, setbacks and exhilaration that are the lifeblood of the search for knowledge the release states.

Executive VP and GM Discovery Channel Clark Bunting said: "At a time when many programmers are looking to retrench and conserve, the Discovery Channel is aggressively investing in the highest quality original programming, specials and initiatives like Discovery Channel Quest.

This is the key to expanding our already strong position in an increasingly cluttered television world, and we are looking forward to delivering programming that continue to engage and surprise viewers as well as enabling science and exploration that may change our view of the world."

In addition. the channel announced that the 2002-03 schedule will see six new original series. They include Hi-Tech History which blends past and future by using 21st century technology and techniques to answer the lingering questions of histories‘ greatest mysteries. People Watch combines real life video footage with expert scientific, anthropological and psychological perspectives to analyse everyday behaviors that most of us take for granted.

James Cameron‘s Expedition Bismarck will be the first programme emanating from the Discovery Channel Quest initiative. The director of Titanic searches for the German battleship DKM Bismarck. The program chronicles his personal quest for the submerged wreck and seeks new information and answers to how this seemingly invincible ship was destroyed on its maiden voyage.

The Discovery Channel and BBC will reunite in 2002-03 for a wide range of high profile specials. The coming year features the next installment in the Walking With... franchise. Cavemen will be featured. This all-new special will use the latest research and computer generated images (CGI) to shed new light on what life was like for our human ancestors. The new series also pioneers deep time-lapse, a visual technique that allows viewers to witness incredible scenes of climate change, geological uplift and environmental turmoil spanning millions of years - all in just a few moments. The Great Pyramid recreates a "builder‘s eye view" of the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza.

Other specials coming in 2002-03 include Joined For Life, a program that looks at the daily life of the conjoined 11-year-old Hensel twins. The Hensel family chose Discovery to exclusively document a year in the life of the 11-year-old twins, from March 2001 to March 2002.