Love Nature celebrates 10 years of global expansion and leadership advancement

Wildlife and nature channel Love Nature is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a promotion at the top and ambitious plans for further global growth.

The Blue Ant Media company has elevated senior VP, production and development Alison Barrat to senior VP, head of content, as it reaches new milestones in international distribution and content partnerships. In her expanded role, Barrat will lead Love Nature’s global content strategy across original commissioning, acquisitions, programming and marketing.

Barrat will continue to report to Carlyn Staudt, who was recently promoted to the newly created role of executive VP of global channels and streaming at Blue Ant Media and is now leading the growth of the company’s portfolio of international channels. James Manfull, editor-in-chief, and Katie Murdock, executive producer, will continue to report to Barrat.

“Alison excels at elevating the quality, breadth and contemporary appeal of Love Nature’s original programming,” said Staudt. “Her new role as head of content is a natural progression of the incredible results she has achieved.”

The promotion comes as Love Nature marks a decade of evolution from its origins as a Canadian specialty pay-TV channel. The brand is now available in 110 countries, 29 languages ​​and on both pay TV and streaming platforms in 4K. It reaches approximately 400 million households worldwide through branded linear and online platforms and content partnerships.

“The highlight was actually the journey,” Barrat looks back on the ten-year milestone. “Every time we did something it was something new. And so there was kind of a sense of, okay, let’s figure this out.

Staudt, who joined National Geographic in 2017 after two decades to reinvent the channel’s content strategy, remembers the early days of building the U.S. team. “Alison was my employee number three,” she says. “I was looking for someone to do this with, a partner, and Alison stepped up and started this journey with me on a substantive level.”

A major turning point came in 2020, when Love Nature took advantage of the emerging FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) landscape in the US. “We have really made progress on that,” says Staudt. “We went QUICK at first in the United States and immediately jumped into pay TV.”

This move paid off: Love Nature achieved success on FAST, despite skepticism about the viability of 24/7 nature programming in the US market. “Audiences came to our FAST channels like you wouldn’t believe, and we really grew that audience very quickly,” Staudt notes.

In terms of content, Love Nature has focused on innovative approaches to natural history programming. Recent examples include “Survival of the Beast,” in which survivalist Max Djenohan learns from animal behavior, and “The Hungry Games: Alaska’s Big Bear Challenge,” a competition-style series about bears bulking up for hibernation.

“Finding new ways to tell stories, expanding the genre by working with different partners and even different production companies to keep the genre fresh has been a challenge that I have personally enjoyed,” says Barrat.

The company has also expanded its roster of on-screen talent, working with presenters such as Lizzie Daly, Dan O’Neill and Djenohan to provide new perspectives on natural history content. “One of the things we’re really good at is that we have a great diversity of new faces on the channel, representing the whole world. It’s a global channel, so we’re looking for global faces to represent our audience ” says Barrat. say.

Looking ahead, Love Nature is looking at further international growth, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. The company established an APAC business last year with offices in Sydney and Singapore. “Asia is a very exciting time and a very exciting player in the way they are innovating in the way they deliver content, and we want to be there in a more meaningful way,” Staudt says.

“It’s not just about expanding our flagship Love Nature channel, but we also plan to replicate Love Nature into other genres and develop other content brands that we can monetize in different ways,” Staudt added.

On the technology front, Love Nature is preparing for the potential shift to 8K production and distribution, while recognizing the challenges in workflow and consumer acceptance. “We’re shooting a lot in 8K right now,” says Staudt. “There is some technological advancement and there also needs to be industry-wide adoption. But rest assured, in this genre, we will be there when that happens and ready to go.”

On the technology front, Love Nature is preparing for the potential shift to 8K production and distribution, while recognizing the challenges in workflow and consumer acceptance. “We’re shooting a lot in 8K right now,” says Staudt. “There is some technological advancement and there also needs to be industry-wide adoption. But rest assured, in this genre, we will be there when that happens and ready to go.”

The company is also exploring opportunities in emerging platforms such as virtual reality headsets. “We’re trying to meet viewers where they are, and that’s a whole new, exciting area,” Staudt notes.

As Love Nature enters its second decade, Barrat and Staudt are optimistic about the brand’s growth and future. “I really feel like this is a good news story. I’m very optimistic about the future of the genre. I know the audience is there,” says Barrat. “I know we will continue to create great, relevant, high-quality content, and I look forward to what we do next and wherever the media world takes us. I’m confident we’ll be there and it’ll be fun.”