Fox Cable Answers Call of the Wild

A day after news leaks about Fox Reality shutting down, Fox and Nat Geo confirm plans for new wildlife channel.

It’s survival of the fittest at Fox’s cable group: Fox Reality Channel will be replaced by a spinoff of National Geographic Channel dubbed Nat Geo Wild.

Fox’s cable group has struck a deal with National Geographic Ventures to replace FRC with a new service focusing on animals in their wild, natural environment, a Fox Cable spokesman confirmed Thursday. Nat Geo Wild already exists overseas.

TheWrap broke the news Wednesday that FRC would go away by March 31.

National Geographic and Fox are already partners on National Geographic Channel. Because the new service is so different from Fox Reality, Fox Cable executives will have some pitching to do when it comes to cable operators.

The format of Nat Geo Wild should be appealing to operators because nature programming — especially in HD — is popular with viewers.

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