October 7 as Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild


NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2023 - Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild debuts on October 7, 60 years after the original Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom series launched on NBC. The next generation of the legacy show will tell success stories of wildlife conservation throughout North America. The series will bring the iconic Wild Kingdom brand back to its roots as it revisits some of the work that began decades ago with original series hosts, legendary zoologists Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler.

Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild is produced by Hearst Media Production Group (HMPG), in an exclusive partnership with Mutual of Omaha, airing Saturday morning's during NBC's "The More You Know" programming block. The educational/informational series will also be available on NBC.com and NBC VOD.

Co-hosted by accomplished wildlife experts Peter Gros and Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, the series will take viewers to renowned locales from the Pacific Northwest and the Channel Islands to Central Texas and New England. During their travels, Gros and Dr. Wynn-Grant meet up with experts working to protect endangered species on both land and sea, including the manatee, Channel Island fox, puffin, beaver, bald eagle, hellbender salamander, the critically endangered black-footed ferret and the Devils Hole pupfish -- the rarest fish in the world.

The October 7th premiere episode will transport viewers to the Mojave Desert to revisit the desert tortoise, an animal first appearing on the original Wild Kingdom in 1964, while in a later episode Gros and Dr. Wynn-Grant will venture deep inside a Texas cave to be surrounded by 20 million Mexican Freetail bats -- the world's largest known collection.

The October 14th episode travels to the coast of Maine, where the original show undertook conservation efforts in 1980. At the time, puffins were widely considered endangered; it was then that Perkins helped reintroduce them to their sole natural U.S. habitat, known as Puffin Island. Forty-three years later, Gros and Dr. Wynn-Grant return to the island to reveal Perkins' success in bringing the now-thriving "sea parrots" back to America's shores.

Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild is part of HMPG's current program portfolio which comprises more than 30 original series and hundreds of hours of content annually on leading broadcast networks and station groups and on connected TV and streaming platforms. It has a library of more than 4,000 hours of programming and its content can be found in 97 countries.

About Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom
Since its network television premiere in 1963, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom has been one of the most loved and respected wildlife programs in television history. Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild will celebrate stories of conservation success, including the great work of caring, compassionate experts and how they are making a positive impact on the Wild Kingdom. For more information about Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, visit WildKingdom.com.

About Mutual of Omaha
Founded in 1909, Mutual of Omaha is a highly rated, Fortune 500 organization offering a variety of insurance and financial products for individuals, businesses and groups throughout the United States. As a mutual company, Mutual of Omaha is owned by its policyholders and committed to providing outstanding service to its customers. For more information about Mutual of Omaha, visit www.mutualofomaha.com.

About Hearst Media Production Group
Hearst Media Production Group (HMPG), a business unit of Hearst Television, is an independent producer and distributor of original programming for TV stations, broadcast and cable networks and streaming services. HMPG produces hundreds of hours of programming annually across linear, streaming, digital and social media platforms for domestic and international distribution in nearly 100 countries. Its popular shows include the Emmy® Award-winning educational/informational (E/I) programming blocks airing weekends nationwide including "Weekend Adventure," on ABC stations; "CBS WKND," on the CBS Network; "The More You Know," on the NBC Network; "One Magnificent Morning," on The CW Network; "Mi Telemundo" on the Telemundo Network and "Go Time" on independent stations. HMPG also produces and/or distributes a diverse slate of other programming and content including Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien, America's #1 nationally syndicated public affairs news magazine; Consumer Reports TV, and the company's dedicated FAST channels Xplore, The Jack Hanna Channel and Rovr Pets, available on some of the most popular smart TVs and streaming platforms. HMPG has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Charlotte. HMPG is represented by United Talent Agency.

SOURCE Hearst Media Production Group, LLC