Factual
Google reveals BBC nature content for Earth relaunch
MUMBAI: Google and BBC Worldwide has announced that they have teamed up to offer visitors to the new Google Earth a taste of world-renowned nature programming and storytelling, with a shared desire to inspire audiences to explore and foster a deeper connection with our planet.
BBC Worldwide, the main commercial arm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, build BBC’s brands, audiences, commercial returns and reputation across the world.
BBC’s natural treasures will take users on their own journey of discovery through over 30 locations across six of the world’s most incredible habitats – islands, deserts, grasslands, mountains, cities and jungles. Natural Treasures sits within the new Voyager feature of Google Earth which launches today. The BBC’s storytelling will enable users to explore through specially curated journeys each featuring a dynamic combination of filmed insights from the BBC’s wildlife producers, stunning imagery and clips from award-winning archive series’ including Life Story, Africa, Planet Earth II and more.
Following their visit to Natural Treasures, users can discover more about the habitats and more awe-inspiring content about the natural world at bbcearth.com where the British broadcaster’s factual umbrella brand BBC Earth can be found.
Sitting alongside Natural Treasuresin Voyager arefive video collections from theBBC’s BAFTA-nominated app The Story of Lifefeaturing Sir David Attenborough’s clips.For example,‘Beautiful Birds-of-Paradise’ and ‘The Big Five Beasts of Africa’. For more, audiences can download the free app whichfeatures the largest ever digital release of Sir David Attenborough’s renowned work.
BBC Worldwide CMO Jackie Lee-Joe said “We’re delighted to be strengthening our decade-long partnership with Google by pursuinga common goal to bring audiences everywhere even closer to our incredible planet. Through this partnership, we’re leveraging BBC Worldwide’s iconic brand and content to deliver audiences a new way to experience the natural world. The BBC has been capturing and sharingthe natural worldfor over 60 years, and nowwe’re further innovating how we tell these stories – we can’t wait for audiences to explore further.”
In India, BBC Earth nature content is available on Sony BBC Earth, a premium factual entertainment channel recently launched this year.
Sony BBC Earth is a MSM Worldwide Factual Media is a joint venture between Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) and BBC Worldwide. The channel promises to make the viewers Feel Alive through its offering of mind blowing visuals, never-seen-before content, and positive insightful storytelling. The channel will bring award-winning, premium factual content from the BBC to over 500 million of SPN’s viewers across India, and will feature some of the world’s foremost factual film-makers and extraordinary storytellers, naturalists and science journalists. The channel will air the ratings-buster, Planet Earth II in June.
Elsewhere in Asia, the BBC Earth channel is available in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. It is also available on BBC Player in Singapore and Malaysia.
MUMBAI: India’s most famous hot seat is about to welcome an unlikely first-timer. For the first time on Hindi general entertainment television, industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla will appear on Kaun Banega Crorepati, the iconic quiz show hosted by Amitabh Bachchan.
The special episode marks a rare meeting point of boardroom heft and prime-time television, bringing one of India’s most influential business leaders face to face with the country’s most enduring screen legend. It is a crossover that blends intellect, leadership and popular culture, all under KBC’s familiar spotlight.
Birla’s appearance dovetails neatly with the show’s current theme, Jahaan Akal Hai, Wahan Akad Hai, which celebrates the confidence that comes from clarity of thought and knowledge. His presence lends weight to the idea that sharp thinking and conviction are as vital in life as they are in the quiz chair.
In a thoughtful conversation with Bachchan, Birla shared an upbeat view of India’s economic journey, pointing to the nation’s rapid growth and the scale of opportunity opening up across industries and communities. He spoke of momentum, ambition and a future shaped by enterprise and ideas.
The episode is not all serious talk. In lighter moments, Birla confessed his long-standing admiration for Bachchan, calling him his favourite actor and admitting to a touch of nervousness at answering questions in front of the Shahenshah himself. The candour adds a human touch to a man more often seen in headlines than on television sets.
The special episode airs on Monday, 29 December at 9.00 pm on Sony Entertainment Television and Sony LIV.
