Prince William-founded Prize Recognizes Innovative Solutions to Help Repair the Planet
Longer-Term Partnership with Earthshot Will Leverage Pubcasters’ Platforms to Share Inspiring Stories of Innovative Environmental Solutions
ARLINGTON, VA; BOSTON and LONDON, U.K.; November 3, 2022 – The Earthshot Prize, a global environmental prize founded by Prince William and The Royal Foundation in 2020, announced today that PBS and BBC will be the exclusive broadcast homes for its second annual star-studded awards ceremony. Produced by BBC Studios, this year’s event will film at MGM Music Hall at Fenway in Boston and will celebrate five Earthshot Prize winners to be awarded £1 million during the broadcast.
The ceremony will air on Sunday, December 4 at 5:00pm GMT on BBC and will begin streaming from The Earthshot Prize YouTube channel on Monday, December 5. In the U.S., it will begin streaming at 2:00pm ET on Monday, December 5 on PBS.org and the PBS App and at 8:00pm ET on the PBS YouTube channel. (All times subject to change.) PBS will also broadcast the event on Wednesday, December 14 at 8:00pm ET (check local listings).
Inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s “Moonshot,” The Earthshot Prize is an ambitious global environmental prize which aims to discover and scale the best solutions to help repair our planet within the next decade.
Every year, The Earthshot Prize will find and reward solutions to five “Earthshot” goals—Protect and Restore Nature; Clean Our Air; Revive Our Oceans; Build A Waste-Free World and Fix Our Climate. These winning solutions will have the greatest impact on the biggest environmental challenges facing our planet and each winner will receive £1 million and access to a global support network to scale their work. Each year, cities from across the world, dedicated to creating a sustainable future for and with their communities, will be transformed into Earthshot venues, showcasing the worldwide impact of the Prize and profiling the incredible people working to repair the planet both locally and globally.
The partnership will also celebrate the work of The Earthshot Prize finalists and winners by creating and sharing stories on their important work which will be seen on both PBS and BBC and their digital platforms.
“We are delighted that PBS will be U.S. broadcast home for The Earthshot Prize ceremony,” said Paula Kerger, President and CEO, PBS. “We support the mission of The Earthshot Prize and are looking forward to creating year-round content that showcases the work of the individuals and teams who are working to protect the planet with breakthrough innovations.”
“I’m excited that the BBC is once again working with Prince William to bring the Earthshot Prize to British viewers,” said Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual. “Last year’s ceremony won a BAFTA for Best Live Event: it was a festival of hope and human ingenuity, filled with big-name stars and brilliant musical acts. This year’s will be every bit as spectacular. And as we gear up for a tough winter, there couldn’t be a better time to showcase surprising new solutions to some of the world’s most pressing environmental problems.”
“The BBC and PBS are ambitious, mission-led partners critical to helping The Earthshot Prize realize one of its key goals: to celebrate, spotlight and scale the incredible solutions of our 15 finalists,” said Hannah Jones, CEO of The Earthshot Prize. “These awards are a catalytic moment for our finalists and winners, and we are grateful to work with both broadcasters to bring this incredible event to audiences across the world in 2022.”
Funding for the U.S. presentation of this program has been provided by Julia I. Kauffman.
About The Earthshot Prize
Founded by Prince William and The Royal Foundation in 2020, The Earthshot Prize is a global environmental prize to discover, accelerate and scale ground-breaking eco-solutions to repair and regenerate the planet. Inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s Moonshot, which united millions of people around the goal of reaching the moon, The Earthshot Prize aims to catalyze an Earthshot challenge to urgently encourage and scale innovative solutions that can help put the world firmly on a trajectory towards a stable climate, where communities, oceans and biodiversity thrive in harmony by 2030. The five challenges are: Protect and Restore Nature; Clean our Air; Revive our Oceans; Build a Waste-free World; and Fix our Climate.
The Prize aims to turn the current pessimism surrounding environmental issues into optimism but championing inspiring leadership and helping to scale incredible cutting-edge solutions. It will discover 50 winners over 10 years with the power to repair the planet. More than a prize, The Earthshot Prize works in partnership with a Global Alliance of Partners to support the scaling of the solutions discovered and selected each year.
About PBS
PBS, with more than 330 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and digital content. Each month, PBS reaches over 120 million people through television and 26 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’s broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. Decades of research confirms that PBS’s premier children’s media service, PBS KIDS, helps children build critical literacy, math and social-emotional skills, enabling them to find success in school and life. Delivered through member stations, PBS KIDS offers high-quality educational content on TV – including a 24/7 channel, online at pbskids.org, via an array of mobile apps and in communities across America. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the internet, or by following PBS on Twitter, Facebook or through our apps for mobile and connected devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom or by following PBS Communications on Twitter.
About BBC Studios
BBC Studios is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group with profits (EBITDA) of £226 million on sales of £1.6bn (21/22). Able to take an idea seamlessly from thought to screen and beyond, its activities span content financing, development, production, sales, branded services, and ancillaries across both its own productions, and programmes and formats made by high-quality UK independents, with three-quarters of its revenues from non-BBC customers including Discovery, Apple and Netflix. Around 2,400 hours of award-winning British programmes made by the business are internationally recognised across a broad range of genres and specialisms, with brands like Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars, Top Gear, Bluey and Doctor Who. BBC.com, BBC Studios’ global digital news platform, has 139 million unique browser visits each month.
About MGM Music Hall at Fenway:
Located at the intersection of Lansdowne and Ipswich Streets in Boston, the MGM Music Hall at Fenway is a brand new, state-of-the-art, multi-purpose performing arts center that occupies 91,500 square feet on four levels and can accommodate up to 5,000 guests in an intimate setting with versatile seating options. Opened in August 2022, MGM Music Hall at Fenway is owned by Fenway Sports Group Real Estate and operated by Fenway Music Company – a joint venture between Fenway Sports Management & Live Nation. For additional information, visit www.MGMFenwayMusicHall.com.
###
Contacts:
For PBS: DKCEarthshotPrize@dkc.com
For BBC: Sonia.Cooper@bbc.com
For Earthshot: earthshotprize2022@fgsglobal.com