Sony BBC Earth, one of India’s popular factual entertainment channels, celebrated its fifth anniversary in 2022, promising to provide viewers with inspiring and thought-provoking content as well as meaningful engagements.

This year, the channel delivered ground-breaking shows as well as intriguing initiatives, making its audience feel alive.

As the year 2022 comes to a close, let us take a look back at the year’s key tentpoles and major highlights.

Sony BBC Earth’s 5th anniversary: With the tagline ‘Make Every Moment Meaningful’, the brand launched a 360-degree anniversary campaign that included a variety of activities. Sony BBC Earth announced a user-generated contest called #5YearsOfLife on Instagram, inviting people to share how they have added meaning to someone’s life through reels using the brand audio. Adding to the excitement, Instagram filters were created using augmented reality. When users pointed their cameras at the Sony BBC Earth logo (on-air, web, print, and outdoor), their screens came alive with animated animal figures. This was supplemented by a property called ‘5 Years 5 Mega Shows,’ which allowed viewers to vote for their favorite movies, which were then aired on Sony BBC Earth.

Tentpole show premieres: The channel debuted Sir David Attenborough’s ‘Green Planet’ from the Planet series. The channel timed the show’s promotional phase to coincide with Earth Day when the ‘Green Planet’ campaign was announced. Sony BBC Earth set up a ‘Green Planet’ installation – an Earth exhibit using plants – at Phoenix Market City to engage people. People received a miniature sapling as a small and meaningful gift for sharing their efforts toward a Green Planet during this three-day activation.

It was followed by a workshop on how to care for indoor plants and the benefits of home gardening led by eminent Plantfluencer Ann Mathew. The miniature saplings were also distributed to schoolchildren to instill the importance of plant care.

The second season of Sony BBC Earth’s flagship property ‘Frozen Planet’ premiered in India, the channel said in a statement.

A multi-city screening took place in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, and Chennai. Makarand Deshpande, Jameel Khan, Saumya Tandon, Deepak Dobriyal, Shivin Narang, Rajshree Thakur, Vidyut Xavier, Sushant Singh, Amrita Prakash, Priyamvada Kant and others attended a special star-studded screening in Mumbai.

A user-generated contest was also launched, with the winners receiving access to the special celebrity screening.

The channel debuted the show ‘James Webb: The $10 Billion Space Telescope’, which capitalized on the popularity of the James Webb telescope. It took viewers on a tour of the world’s most powerful astronomical observatory and showcased the creation of the $10 billion glittering space jewel.

IPs for brands: Sony The second edition of ‘Young Earth Champions’ was launched by BBC Earth with renowned actor and environmentalist Jim Sarbh and Professor Amritanshu Shriwastav from IIT Bombay.

This year’s competition focused on the conservation of the planet’s resources, including water, land, wildlife and forest, and energy. The top ten winners were allowed to virtually interact with Jim and the professor on their ideas and exchange perspectives on sustainability.

This year, the digital IP ‘Earth In Focus,’ which was launched on Photography Day, received a phenomenal response, with a 50 percent increase in entries compared to the previous year. The theme revolved around seeking the ‘Thrill of Life,’ which was further subdivided into Landscape, Adventure, and Wildlife. Rathika Ramasamy, an award-winning wildlife photographer, judged the entries.

The channel also returned with a new season of its school contact program ‘Feel alive hours’. They also launched an Inter-School Quiz Contest in addition to reaching out to schools, hosting live sessions with experts, and organizing DIY experiments. This contest allowed children to represent themselves and their schools to the rest of the world by displaying their general knowledge. The property began in December and will continue until the following year.

On-ground integration: Sony BBC Earth collaborated with Narsee Monjee College’s mega cultural festival ‘Umang’ to be present among the brightest minds and engage with college students. The channel took over waste management for the festival and installed reversal vending machines to reward those who assisted in making the festival zero-waste. The channel assisted in the disposal of 1394 kg of waste for the event.

As the festival’s sustainability partner, the channel is collaborating with IIT Bombay’s Mood Indigo. Throughout the four-day event, the channel will post hard-hitting messages across campus to make students aware of the dangers of India’s plastic footprint.