BY SCOTT BLAKE
and DAVE BERMAN
Program schedule
# "Expedition Everest: Journey to Sacred Lands" Travel Channel: 8 p.m. Sunday (one-hour show)
# "Building a Thrill Ride: Expedition Everest" The Science Channel: 9 p.m. Monday; 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesday; 5 p.m. April 15 Discovery Channel: 8 p.m. April 12; just after midnight April 13 (one-hour show)
# "Corwin's Quest: Realm of the Yeti" Animal Planet: 8 p.m. April 15 (two-hour show) Discovery Networks
Discovery Networks has teamed up with The Walt Disney Co. in a series of three shows that will, in effect, help promote Disney's new thrill ride, Expedition Everest, at Animal Kingdom near Orlando.
Four of Discovery's networks next week will air three Everest-themed shows during what the network is promoting as "Everest: The Experience."
The airing is timed to coincide with Friday's official debut of the $100 million Expedition Everest, although the Mount Everest-themed roller-coaster attraction has been operating on a limited basis since February.
Representatives for Disney and Discovery described the alliance as a mutually beneficial cross-marketing effort. Disney gets exposure for its new ride, and Discovery gets access to Disney's planning and technology the network believes will draw a large audience.
The representatives said Disney did not finance the programs, and Discovery retained full editorial control over content.
"This is not an infomercial," said Clark Bunting, president of national product for Discovery. "These are straight-up documentaries that Discovery would do anyway."
However, media critics question the objectivity of such programs.
The Discovery-Disney alliance appears to be part of a growing trend of commercialism in educational and news programs, said Craig Aaron, a spokesman for Free Press, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that follows media policy and reform issues.
"I think that kind of synergy, as they call it, is definitely
running rampant," Aaron said. "You turn on any supposed news program and see what (that company's) entertainment division is doing. It seems we've reached a point that news and educational programs don't hesitate to align themselves with big corporations and entertainment" conglomerates.
"What used to seem inappropriate has become commonplace," Aaron added. "The question is: Is Discovery going to make clear about whether Disney funded the programs or provided any services? Essentially, if it's nothing more than an infomercial, will it be presented as such? Or will it be presented as an independent production that's separate from promoting a theme park?"
The three shows are scheduled to air a total of eight times from Sunday through April 15 on Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, The Science Channel and Travel Channel.
The first program follows Joe Rohde, creative executive for Walt Disney Imagineering, on a trip through Nepal, where Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain, is located, as research for creating the Expedition Everest ride.
The second program is a behind-the-scenes look at the development of the 199-foot-tall ride.
The third program is about a mission through Nepal in search of new animal species.
The benefits for Disney are obvious, said Robert Niles, who operates Theme Park Insider.com, an online consumer guide to theme parks.
"Doing things like this certainly increases Disney World's visibility in the minds of travelers," Niles said. "This will certainly make people think more of a Disney World vacation," and could help increase ticket sales there.
But, ultimately, Niles said, families are "going to price it, and make their decision based on a number of factors."
Niles described the television tie-ins as "standard operating procedure for Disney" and what he termed its "public-relations machine."
"They're very aggressive of courting broadcast coverage. They go for the big blowout," Niles said. "It's certainly going to give them space on the cable-TV dial."
Niles describes Expedition Everest as "clearly the most significant new attraction opening at the Orlando theme parks this year."
While the ride does not set records for size or speed, it parallels Disney's push to focus its attractions heavy on storytelling and themes, he said.
Tied most directly to the ride is the program titled "Building a Thrill Ride: Expedition Everest," which Discovery says will be "an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the technology, engineering and creativity harnessed to build one of the most elaborate thrill attractions ever with roller-coaster technology."
Animal Kingdom drew 8.2 million visitors last year, up 5 percent from 2004, according to estimates by Amusement Business magazine. That ranked Animal Kingdom fifth among North American theme parks, behind Disney's three other Orlando-area theme parks and
Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif.
