Everyone's 'Greatest American' to Wake up With, NBC News' Today Show Co-Anchor Matt Lauer to Host Discovery Channel's GREATEST AMERICAN

Everyone's 'Greatest American' to Wake up With, NBC News' Today Show Co-Anchor Matt Lauer to Host Discovery Channel's GREATEST AMERICAN

Online Nominations Open Until February 16 via aol.com/greatestamerican

SILVER SPRING, Md., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- A morning news fixture for millions of Americans, co-anchor of America's #1 morning news show, Matt Lauer will take on a new role as the host of Discovery's upcoming 20th anniversary special television event GREATEST AMERICAN. For the seven-hour primetime program to be telecast this summer, Americans nationwide will vote for their #1 choice for the person who has most embodied the American dream, having the biggest impact on the way we think, work and live.

Providing a daily lifeline to the country's current events, the Emmy(R) Award-winning Lauer has been Today's co-anchor since 1997, interviewing some of the world's biggest newsmakers. Lauer brings a tailor-made, exceptionally informed approach to the Discovery special series.

"Having had the chance to interview a number of America's top newsmakers, celebrities and extraordinary citizens, I am looking forward to seeing who America thinks are the greatest Americans. Ask your friends and family who they think are the greatest Americans and you can be sure that it will get them talking -- that's exactly what the series will do," said Lauer.

"As GREATEST AMERICAN seeks to acknowledge the accomplishments of the country's most outstanding men and women, Matt is a prime fit for the proceedings, providing his signature wit, warmth and knowledge. Having him involved adds to the power of this project and we are certain that it will draw in that much more participation from the Nation," said Jane Root, executive vice president and general manager of Discovery Channel.

To help decide who makes it onto the show, Discovery Channel, in conjunction with official GREATEST AMERICAN interactive partner America Online, is calling on Americans to nominate up to five favorite candidates via the Web on aol.com/greatestamerican or on the AOL service at Keyword: Greatest American. Nominations will be open until February 16. The top 100 nominees will launch the special television event. AOL will also offer exclusive video programming surrounding each of the nominees.

Today will work in conjunction with Discovery Channel to broadcast complementary programming to the series.

GREATEST AMERICAN is a major on-air and cross-platform media initiative that asks America to decide who they think is the greatest influence on our lives and who we are as a nation. Nominees can be living or dead, and can come from any field: politics, the military, industry, exploration, the arts, civil rights, entertainment, science or athletics. Once Americans nominate their choices via AOL, the results will be tallied to create a list of 100 candidates. Each candidate will be profiled in the four-part weekly primetime series. After learning more about the candidates, viewers will have the chance to make their voices heard through several forums including online voting through AOL, telephone voting and text messaging. After each show, they'll narrow down the candidates until only one great American remains.

Lauer joined Today in 1994 as news anchor, having previously been a co- anchor for New York's WNBC-TV. Among his varied and vast Today segments, Lauer has been contributing his signature "Where in the World is Matt Lauer" for the past four years, taking him to points all over from Egypt's Great Pyramids to China's Great Wall.

GREATEST AMERICAN is produced by NBC Entertainment in conjunction with NBC News Productions.

Discovery Channel is the United States' largest cable television network, serving 89.4 million households across the nation with the finest in informative entertainment. Discovery Networks, U.S., a unit of Discovery Communications, Inc., operates and manages Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery HD Theater, Discovery Kids Channel, Discovery Times Channel, The Science Channel, Discovery Home Channel, Military Channel, Discovery en Espanol and FitTV. The unit also distributes BBC AMERICA.

For more information, please log onto discovery.com .


Source: Discovery Channel

CONTACT: Elizabeth Hillman, +1-240-662-2664,
elizabeth_hillman@discovery.com, or Alison Risso, +1-240-662-2926,
alison_risso@discovery.com, both of the Discovery Channel; or Lauren Kapp of
NBC News, +1-212-664-2919, Lauren.kapp@nbcuni.com

Web site: http://www.discovery.com/
http://www.aol.com/greatestamerican


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