Solitary 4.0 Returns One Last Time to Fox Reality

Fox Reality is visiting “Solitary” one more time before the network signs off on March 31.

The fourth season of the franchise will launch on Saturday, January 30 at 10:00/9:00c following newcomer “Seducing Cindy.”

In addition, the cable channel will encore the first three seasons of the series with eight-hour marathons on Wednesday, January 27 (season one), Thursday, January 28 (season two) and Friday, January 29 (season three), all starting at 3:00/2:00c.

A stealth premiere of the new season is also set for Friday, January 29 at 11:00/10:00c.

(from FOX)

Fox Reality Channel Will Be Replaced With Nat Geo Wild Next Year

Fox Cable Networks (FCN), National Geographic Ventures (NGV) and National Geographic Channel U.S. (NGC) today announced the upcoming launch of Nat Geo Wild, a new cable network dedicated to bringing audiences extraordinary natural history programming — offering intimate encounters with nature’s ferocious fighters and gentle creatures of land, sea and air. Like National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild will be a joint venture between NGV and FCN.

Today’s announcement was made by Rich Battista, president, Fox National Cable Networks; John Fahey, president and CEO of the National Geographic Society; and David Haslingden, CEO National Geographic Channels Worldwide and Fox International Channels.

Scheduled to launch in the United States in spring 2010, Nat Geo Wild will be available in both standard and high-definition live feeds and video on demand to all distributors. As part of the launch, FCN will be offering distributors the opportunity to transition carriage of Fox Reality Channel’s nearly 50 million subscribers to Nat Geo Wild.

“The domestic launch of Nat Geo Wild is another step in the strategic evolution of our national cable channels,” said Battista. “We continually look to develop content extensions for our diverse portfolio of networks, and National Geographic is one of the world’s iconic brands — offering a slate of exceptional shows that can be enjoyed by the entire family.”

Nat Geo Wild is the fastest growing channel of the National Geographic portfolio networks, with launches in France, Germany, Australia and Latin America in the past year. It also is the first to move from overseas into the U.S. market and the first to be programmed globally by a single executive. Geoff Daniels, senior vice president of Development & Production for National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) for four years, has been named executive in charge of programming for Nat Geo Wild, dually reporting to executive vice presidents of content for NGC and NGCI, Steve Burns and Sydney Suissa, respectively. Nat Geo Wild will be managed in the United States by Steve Schiffman, general manager.

“Nat Geo Wild first launched over three years ago and has been extremely successful in Europe and Asia as natural history resonates across a wide range of demographics, cultures and nationalities,” explained Haslingden. “Technological developments, especially high definition, have allowed us to tell fantastic stories of our natural world in more compelling and engaging ways than ever before. I’m delighted the channel is coming to America and enormously optimistic about its growth here and around the world.”

“National Geographic is dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet by presenting the most compelling and visually dynamic science, exploration and history across all our media platforms,” said Fahey. “Wildlife programming is core to our brand and with the urgent conservation challenges facing wildlife, this is the right time for us to focus on what is a favorite genre for many.”

National Geographic Channel will continue to differentiate itself with a rich tapestry of adventure, exploration, culture and science programming, including a select number of natural history specials, while Nat Geo Wild will dedicate its platform solely to wildlife programming with a mix of series and blue chip specials. Nat Geo Wild will maintain the same tradition of quality as NGC — which received the most Emmy(R) nominations for excellence in News and Documentary of any single cable network during the past two years, as well as the highest score for quality among all cable networks in a recent prestigious survey of more than 25,000 U.S. consumers (2009 Harris Interactive EquiTrend(R) Study).

Nat Geo Wild’s schedule is still being finalized, but premiere programs include:

* Africa’s Lost Eden: Captures the largest relocation effort ever attempted of hundreds of zebra, wildebeest, impala, buffalo and hippos.

* Casey Anderson Programs: A multipart action-packed look at North America’s mightiest carnivores with naturalist Casey Anderson and his best friend Brutus, a 400-pound grizzly bear.

* Rebel Monkeys: Romps with the intelligent and mischievous monkeys in the streets of Jaipur, India, where they have been given free rein.

* Mystery Gorilla: National Geographic Emerging Explorer, primatologist and conservationist Mireya Mayor explores the secret lives of great apes, and new behavior, such as the use of tools, that is rewriting the natural history of this species.

* National Geographic’s Wildest Moments: Heart-pounding footage of wildlife’s most bizarre moments, from a giraffe’s violent outburst to a zebra bullying a leopard.

A Nat Geo Wild Web site and video-on-demand offerings are also planned, with details to be announced in the coming months.

Meet Fox Reality’s Househusbands of Hollywood

Fox Reality Channel tosses convention out the window with its groundbreaking new, one-hour, 10-episode original series, Househusbands of Hollywood, premiering Saturday, August 15^th at 9p/8c. Cooking, cleaning, child rearing and the dynamics between real couples has never been this entertaining.

Five Hollywood men defy traditional marital roles by staying home to run the household while their wives head to work. It’s a new family arrangement. Fox Reality Channel follows these men as they struggle to juggle day-to-day household duties while managing their egos.

The Househusbands of Hollywood are:

• Billy Ashley: Former professional baseball player with the Los Angeles Dodgers, married to celebrity makeup artist Lisa Ashley. Now a stay-at-home dad of their two pre-teen daughters, Alexa and Sophia, he also helps manage his wife’s cosmetic lines, Lisa Ashley Beauty and l.a.girlfriend.
• Danny Barclay: A one-time pre-med student – turned aspiring actor, married to college sweetheart, Katherine Barclay, an attorney at a Hollywood law firm.
• Darryl M. Bell: An actor, best known for his role on the TV sitcom, A Different World, plays house with longtime partner actress Tempestt Bledsoe, formerly of The Cosby Show.
• Charlie Mattera: Once known as “The Gentleman Bandit,” now married to a prominent psychologist to the stars and spends his time at home raising their baby son, Ryan. An aspiring actor/screenwriter, he also serves as co-executive producer and co-creator of theHousehusbands of Hollywood original series.
• Grant Reynolds: A former Marine Corps sniper, married to Jillian Reynolds of Fox Reality Channel’s American Idol Extra, FOX NFL Sunday and FOX 11’s Good Day LA. Currently an actor and stay-at-home dad of their 2-year-old daughter, Ruby.

Viewers can learn more about the househusbands and watch unaired footage at http://www.foxreality.com/househusbands. They can also get twitter updates and the inside scoop directly from the househusbands at http://twitter.com/FoxReality.

In addition, fans can also get news about Househusbands of Hollywood and all other Fox Reality Channel original series’ by adding Fox Reality Channel on Myspace and becoming a fan on Facebook.

Fox Reality Channel’s Househusbands of Hollywood is produced by Marilyn Wilson Productions Inc., with Marilyn Wilson, Scooter Pietsch, Lisa Bernstein and Charlie Mattera serving as executive producers and creators.

Fox Reality Channel’s Busted & Disgusted premieres on April Fool’s Day

Fox Reality Channel’s new original 10-episode series, “Busted & Disgusted” will premiere Wednesday April 1, 2009 at 9p ET/ 6p PT. Just when you thought you’d seen it all, Fox Reality Channel and the team that brought you “Busted on the Job,” “When Good Times Go Bad,” “Totally Embarrassed,” and “When Chefs Attack” are taking clip shows to another level. If it’s sickening, outrageous, or disgusting—you’ll see it on “Busted & Disgusted.”

“Surveillance cameras are commonplace these days, yet some people’s behavior is completely shocking. Fox Reality Channel brings viewers the most incredible footage of tasteless acts with ‘Busted & Disgusted,’” said Bob Boden, Senior Vice President of Programming, Production & Development at Fox Reality. “This show is sure to stir spirited conversation.”

Produced by legendary clip show producer Danny Wolf, highlights from the first season of “Busted & Disgusted” include an angry hospital patient seeking revenge with a bedpan and a creative bartender giving new meaning to the term “swizzle stick.”

“We thought we’d found it all, but dug deeper and scoured the globe for the most revolting behaviors ever caught on camera,” said Danny Wolf, Producer, Busted Productions.

“Busted & Disgusted” is produced by Busted Productions.

Stars from Rock of Love and A Shot a Love go head to head on Battle of the Bods

Fox Reality Channel is bringing sexy back with all-new episodes of its successful original series, “Battle of the Bods,” proving you don’t have to be a man to think like one. Clothes come off and claws come out on “Battle of the Bods,” which takes five outspoken ladies who must rank themselves in order of physical attractiveness in order to match the rankings of a panel of male judges sitting behind a one-way mirror. If the women are successful, they win cash prizes. Feisty British comedienne Olivia Lee (Punk’d, Comedy Lab: Olivia Lee’s Naughty Bits) returns to host all-new episodes of the eye candy-filled original, “Battle of the Bods,” premiering Saturday, February 14 at 10p/9c.

In “Battle of the Bods,” the five women compete in three rounds to rank their best attributes, which include the categories face, butt, chest, legs and the full package. For every rank the women match with the male judges, they build their cash prize. The male judges don’t get off that easy though – at the end of each episode the tables are turned and the ladies get their chance to rank the men’s bodies for bonus cash.

Watch for special “Reality Star” episodes with men and women from some of the most popular reality shows including, “Rock of Love” (VH1) and “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila” (MTV), and a “grudge match,” featuring some audience-favorite females from previous shows.     

Fox Reality takes pixilation to another level

Fox Reality will be unveiling what they are calling, “an innovative new pixilation graphic package” for its original programming on January 17th.

In the past pixilation techniques have been used to blur nudity, faces, logos and offensive graphics on reality television. However, Fox Reality promises that their pixialtion graphic package will actually add a new dimension to the viewing experience.

“Challenging a graphic practice originally designed to censor creates a unique tone and voice for our original brand and ultimately our network,” said Lorey Zlotnick, Senior Vice President Marketing and On-Air Promotion. “We’ve taken traditional pixilation and turned it sideways—instead of saying ‘don’t look,’ we’re calling on viewers to look even more closely.”

“We weren’t looking for a passive graphic package to merely look good on top of footage,” Ms. Zlotnick added. “It had to be strategic and work harder within our competitive landscape. Our campaign needed to strike multiple objectives and literally interact with our original programming, create an environment for our originals nobody else could own and clearly reinforce the overall network brand and voice.”

Fox Reality will debut this new technique on the season premiere of Solitary v3.0, January 17th at 9 p/8c.

Fox Reality Channel Announces New Original Series

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Fox Reality Channel, the only all-reality, all-the-time cable network, heats up this fall with the debut of the celebrity reality series, ‘Gimme My Reality Show!’ announced today by David Lyle, President, Fox Reality Channel. The series’in which celebrities compete for the right to have their own reality show’premieres Saturday, October 11, at midnight ET/PT following the outrageous 2008 Fox Reality Channel Really Awards.

”Gimme My Reality Show!’ is truly unique,’ said Lyle. ‘It allows previous supporting reality stars the chance to compete for extra time in the spotlight and for something they’ve haven’t had’their OWN reality show.’

Initial celebrity headliners signed for the show include Traci Bingham, Santino Rice and Gretchen Bonaduce. Bingham’s exotic beauty and energetic personality landed her most famous role as Jordin Tate, on the hit series ‘Baywatch.’ She has since made her mark in the reality television world appearing as part of the cast in several shows including, ‘The Surreal Life 2,’ and FOX’s own ‘Celebrity Boot Camp.’

Rice, a former graduate from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in L.A., gained instant fame with his design abilities, energy, and brutal honesty on the second season of ‘Project Runway,’ Since his semi-finalist finish, Santino has focused on creating one-of-a-kind pieces for his impressive list of exclusive clientele.

Bonaduce was part of the celebrity reality series ‘Breaking Bonaduce’ which focused on the issues and events of the life of her husband Danny Bonaduce. She developed and served as executive producer for ‘Now My Kid’s the Next Child Star’ for VHI, and she also has appeared on several television shows including Oprah, Phil Donahue, The Other Half, and VH1’s Behind the Music and Partridge Family. Gretchen is an accomplished singer and currently is performing with the MuddFlaps and Anhkesenamun around Southern California.

Fox Reality Channel will continue to cast additional celebrity reality stars before the show begins full production.

Produced by Natural 9 Entertainment (‘Fox Reality Really Awards,’ ‘Reality Remix’), ‘Gimme My Reality Show!’ will feature the celebrity reality stars battling in a variety of creative challenges to raise as much public and press recognition as possible for themselves. Judging the efforts of the celebrity reality starts will be a panel of reality producers, TV executives, and former reality stars. The ultimate winner will be chosen by viewer voting.

The winner will be announced during the show’s grand finale on Election Night (November 4, 2008), and will receive his/her own four-episode Original series to premiere on Fox Reality Channel.

Fox Reality Channel Presents…The Biggest Week in Reality TV

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Fox Reality Channel, the only all reality, all the time cable and satellite network, marks its three year anniversary on Saturday, May 24. To celebrate, the network is presenting The Biggest Week in Reality TV, which includes two finales, a premiere and a reunion show for some of the network’s most successful original series. The week starts with a bang with the dramatic conclusion of “Paradise Hotel 2” on Monday, May 19; next there’s the finale of “American Idol Extra” on Thursday, May 22; then comes the premiere of the groundbreaking original series “The Academy: LASD Class #368”; and finally catch the fireworks during the “Paradise Hotel 2” reunion show on Monday, May 26.

Since Fox Reality Channel’s launch on May 24, 2005, the network has more than tripled its reach across the US. According to internal sources, the network has propelled past its initial availability in 12 million homes and is currently available in almost 46 million homes.

“We plan to keep the momentum going strong by offering our fans more of the reality television they crave,” said David Lyle, President, Fox Reality Channel. “We are celebrating this special three year anniversary by giving the gift of a stellar line up, featuring three of our most popular original series.”

The Biggest Week in Reality TV on Fox Reality Channel features:

• “Paradise Hotel 2” – During the finale on May 19 at 1a ET/ 10p PT, four guests are left, but only one will be able to strategize their way to the cash prize. Then, the group will be reunited a week later (May 26) for the “Paradise Hotel 2” Reunion Show hosted by Amanda Byram, which can be seen exclusively on Fox Reality Channel. Tune in to see the guests confront each other about their broken hearts and betrayals when they reunite for the first time since leaving paradise!
• “American Idol Extra” – During the finale on May 22 at 7p ET/PT, host JD Roberto gets the first interviews with both the winner and the runner up to the biggest reality show in America. Emotions will run high as the interviews are captured mere moments after each contestant gives their final performance and finds out if they are this year’s “American Idol.” If this season has taught viewers anything, it’s that plenty of surprises are in store!
• “The Academy: LASD Class #368” – The premiere on May 24 at 9p ET/PT introduces a new class of recruits for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Academy as they are forced to endure the most intense day of training, Black Monday. Plus, a special ‘Where Are They Now’ episode catching up with last season’s recruits will air the same night.