Back from the brink of extinction

A couple of years ago, no one in the industry could have predicted films from the natural history genre would make a dent at the box office. But last year's surprise hit was March of the Penguins. This year, An Inconvenient Truth is making headlines, not only for Al Gore's environmental message, but also for the film's impressive ticket sales. Some execs point to the genre's technological advances for the increased audience interest in wildlife and earth sciences, while others claim the stories are more relevant, given recent world events such as deadly tsunamis and hurricanes. Either way, viewers are starting to look to the small screen for nh entertainment, and broadcasters are working to ensure they serve this demo, a different one from the genre's heyday about five years ago.