PBS' Nightly Business Report Launches Partnership with Planet Forward

MIAMI, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- PBS' Nightly Business Report (NBR), the award-winning business news television program, today announced a new collaboration with Planet Forward that harnesses the power of TV's most watched daily business news show to develop programming about the environment.

Content for the series, which premieres October 21 with an in-studio appearance by Emmy award-winning host Frank Sesno, will be shaped by the public, including Nightly Business Report's viewers, through Planet Forward's public affairs Web site PlanetForward.org. Planet Forward is a multimedia project housed at the George Washington University that connects pioneering solutions to people who can create change. Nightly Business Report has been a pioneer in financial reporting for more than three decades.

"This collaboration empowers our viewers by giving them a voice in some of the most important issues facing our world today," said Mykalai Kontilai, chairman and chief executive of Nightly Business Report. "Our unique partnership with Planet Forward allows viewers to directly shape content. I know our viewers will appreciate the opportunity to play such an active role."

The first episode, entitled "A New Electric Car," takes a look at the Nissan Leaf--the automaker's new 100% electric car.

"Planet Forward's ability to expand the reach of our online community will grow exponentially with the national reach of Nightly Business Report," said Frank Sesno, director of GW's School of Media and Public Affairs. "Since one of our primary goals is to encourage collaboration by exposing our communities' ideas to the widest possible audience, a television partner like NBR will help us connect good ideas to new viewers along with our other online distribution channels."

Viewers will submit ideas focused on innovations that can tackle energy and climate challenges through PlanetForward.org. Nightly Business Report and Planet Forward will jointly produce stories around the most interesting and unique ideas from the online entries.

"Planet Forward is utilizing the Internet to tap into the global community of ideas for solutions to the serious environmental challenges facing all of us today," Kontilai said. "Our interest in expanding into new platforms to improve the experience of our viewers made teaming with Planet Forward a natural fit."

About Nightly Business Report: For more than three decades, the award-winning Nightly Business Report has provided business news in a fast-paced format. Timely investment information helps viewers manage their money and stay abreast of the news that affects their portfolios. Nightly Business Report premiered as a Miami regional program on January 22, 1979, with national distribution beginning in 1981. Underwritten by Franklin Templeton Investments, Nightly Business Report is distributed live to public television stations at 6:30pm ET every weeknight. Local broadcast times vary.

About Planet Forward: Planet Forward is an online social network where creative and innovative ideas addressing global challenges are featured, discussed and evaluated.  Planet Forward is a project of the Center for Innovative Media at the School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) at the George Washington University.  SMPA is dedicated to the rigorous study of journalism and political communication with a focus on understanding the impact media have on how societies inform and govern, connect and communicate.

SOURCE Nightly Business Report