USA TODAY LIVE to Produce Two Television Documentaries for Animal Planet

USA TODAY LIVE to Produce Two Television Documentaries for Animal Planet

ANIMAL PLANET HEROES: Hurricane Rescues & Hurricane Reunions

MCLEAN, Va., Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- USA TODAY LIVE, the television arm of USA TODAY, will produce two one-hour television documentaries for Animal Planet. The documentaries will focus on the heroic efforts of those who are working tirelessly to save the more than 50,000 animals trapped in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

ANIMAL PLANET HEROES: Hurricane Rescues will premiere this Friday, September 16th at 9 p.m. ET. USA TODAY LIVE shot original footage in Louisiana, as well as in Texas and Washington, D.C. The program will focus on the different ways people are working to save animals.

ANIMAL PLANET HEROES: Hurricane Reunions will premiere in late November. The program will focus on the heartwarming reunions of animals and their human friends.

The programs will air on Animal Planet in the U.S. as well as on Animal Planet in all international markets later in the year. Lauren Ashburn is the executive producer and Emil Gallina is the producer for USA TODAY LIVE. Jamie Roberts is the executive producer for Animal Planet, U.S.

This is the second production deal that USA TODAY LIVE has signed in recent weeks. LIVE is also producing a new weekly primetime program for HDNet. "Debate" on HDNet will premiere in October. JADE programming group represents USA TODAY LIVE in television programming sales.

USA TODAY LIVE also produces various news segments that include a daily live morning segment that airs on Gannett television stations that reach 17% of American homes, a daily Business Connection segment for the Weather Channel that airs five times a day, and USATODAY.com video headlines. Additionally, LIVE offers production services to non-Gannett television stations for origination of live or taped interviews with USA TODAY staff.

USA TODAY is the nation's top-selling newspaper. It is published via satellite at 36 locations in the USA and at four sites abroad. With a total average daily circulation of 2.3 million, USA TODAY is available worldwide. USA TODAY is published by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI). The USA TODAY brand also includes: USA TODAY Sports Weekly, a magazine for enthusiasts of professional football and baseball; USATODAY.com, an award-winning news and information Web site that is updated 24 hours per day; and USA TODAY LIVE, the television arm of the USA TODAY brand that brings the spirit and quality of the newspaper to television.

Source: USA TODAY

CONTACT: Steve Anderson, Director, Communications, +1-703-854-5872, sanderson@usatoday.com, or Heidi Henderson, Manager, Media Relations, +1-703-854-5304, hhenderson@usatoday.com, both of USA TODAY

Web site: http://www.usatoday.com/

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