NAT GEO WILD ANNOUNCES "ANIMAL ER LIVE," A LIVE EVENT SERIES FROM BIG FISH ENTERTAINMENT

From the Creators of "Live PD," Series Puts Viewers a Heartbeat Away From the Doctors Saving Our Pets Across the Country

Animal ER Live Premieres Saturday, March 30, at 9/8c on Nat Geo WILD

(WASHINGTON/PASADENA, CA - FEB. 10, 2019) Nat Geo WILD announced today Animal ER Live, a four-week live event series from "Live PD" creators Big Fish Entertainment, an MGM Company. Anchored by veterinary experts from a studio in New York City, the series follows animal emergencies in real time as they occur at animal hospitals and mobile vet emergency units across the country. Cameras trail teams of specialized veterinarians as they work tirelessly through the night to save the lives of our pets from coast to coast, giving viewers insight into the extraordinary and unpredictable world of urgent animal care.

Animal ER Live airs Saturday and Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT, premiering Saturday, March 30.

Capturing the fast-paced drama and intensity of a hospital procedural mixed with the unbreakable bonds between pets and their owners, cameras will follow a wide range of touching cases in emergency rooms and waiting rooms, and also accompany on-call vets to homes and farms to treat animals that are too sick or too big to travel. A studio-based team will provide insight and takeaway on the stories as events unfold in real time. Treating everything from a sluggish puppy with a fever to a cat with sudden paralysis, watch these incredible doctors LIVE as they push the boundaries of medicine to provide innovative care for every animal imaginable.

"Nat Geo WILD's commitment to series devoted to animal caregivers has been at the core of our success for almost 10 years, and now Animal ER Live is going to take that to another level, delivering our fans the kind of heartwarming and heroic stories they love in a completely fresh and totally LIVE format," said Geoff Daniels, executive vice president of global unscripted entertainment. "Building on our track record of going LIVE into the wild with innovative experiences like Safari Live and Yellowstone Live, we're always looking for new ways to engage our animal-loving audience, which is what makes this collaboration with Big Fish Entertainment the perfect fit. It's really the best of all worlds, with Animal ER LIVE delivering the kind of unscripted drama and inspiring moments from pet emergency rooms across the country that will hit home with the entire family."

"Big Fish spends a lot of time exploring where live can be truly additive, and the incredible high-stakes and heartwarming moments experienced by animal care professionals across the country felt like a unique opportunity," said Dan Cesareo, executive producer and president of Big Fish Entertainment. "Nat Geo WILD is the perfect home for Animal ER Live, and we're thrilled to offer animal lovers a singular viewing experience that only a live format can deliver."

Animal ER Live is produced by Big Fish Entertainment, an MGM Company, for Nat Geo WILD. For Big Fish Entertainment, executive producers are Dan Cesareo, Lucilla D'Agostino, Meghan Spielberg and Richard Hall. For Nat Geo WILD, executive producer is Tracy Rudolph, SVP of natural history programming and development is Janet Han Vissering and executive vice president of global unscripted entertainment is Geoff Daniels.

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About National Geographic Partners LLC

National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between National Geographic and 21st Century Fox, is committed to bringing the world premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global National Geographic television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National Geographic's media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children's media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of our world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 131 years, and now we are committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going further for our consumers ... and reaching millions of people around the world in 172 countries and 43 languages every month as we do it. NGP returns 27 percent of our proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and education. For more information, visit natgeotv.com or nationalgeographic.com, or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

About Big Fish Entertainment:

Big Fish Entertainment, an MGM Company, is a full-service production company that creates multiplatform, visually driven content that compels and entertains audiences with the "unexpected." Founded in 2006 by President Dan Cesareo, Big Fish has since produced more than 1,000 hours of award-winning and top-rated programming in the live, unscripted reality, lifestyle and documentary space. Current Big Fish series include Animal ER Live for Nat Geo Wild; No. 1 unscripted crime series "Live PD," "Live PD: Police Patrol" and "Live PD Presents: PD Cam" for A&E; "Live PD Presents: Women on Patrol" for Lifetime; mega-hit franchise "Black Ink Crew" (New York and Chicago) and mental health special "In Session Live With Dr. Jess" for VH1; culinary docu-series "Hustle & Soul" for WE tv; Chris Paul's "Chapter 3" for ESPN; "Tattoo Girls" for TLC; and "How Far Is Tattoo Far?" for MTV. With other credits including "Bomb Patrol: Afghanistan" and the Gates Foundation Reality PD public schools project, Big Fish captures and relates extraordinary worlds, characters and stories for such networks as Lifetime, A&E, VH1, WE tv, Discovery, TLC, MTV, E!, National Geographic, Oxygen, Travel Channel and Paramount Network. For more information, visit bigfishusa.com.