Heeding call of wild

Shrugging off the wildlife no-show, the hosts of BBC Two's live "Springwatch" then suggest cutting to another location to see what's happening in the swallows' nest. Yikes! The birds are eating their young. But the presenters are philosophical about this infanticide, and a camera is moved to check on the stag beetles. Oh, oh, they're caught in a sexual act!

Unscripted moments such as this abound on "Springwatch," one of the most popular series on British television and produced by the BBC's Natural History Unit, located in Bristol.

Though this live nature series and its companion, "Autumnwatch," wouldn't fit so well on faster-paced U.S. TV, plenty of other BBC-produced wildlife shows do, including on Discovery Channel's Animal Planet.

"Obviously what we are known for is the most ambitious wildlife television series there are. What there are now are greater opportunities across a greater range of media to reach audiences," said Natural History Unit chief Neil Nightingale, as he discusses the evolution in content, technology and distribution since the unit was founded in 1959.

Despite budget cutbacks, the unit continues to produce about 100 hours of television and 50 hours of radio each year, including "The Blue Planet," "Life in Cold Blood" and "Planet Earth."

Many of the series are created in partnership with Discovery Channel, which has a first-look deal with the BBC and usually airs the shows on Animal Planet. But BBC wildlife programming is also shown on other U.S. channels, including National Geographic.

Upcoming BBC nature series -- many of which will find their way to U.S. TV -- include "Pacific Abyss," which explores the ocean's twilight zone, where new technology discovers new sea creatures. Next year, there will be six hours of "Nature's Great Events," a study of migration caused by seasonal change, and 10 hours of "Life," which Nightingale describes as "a definitive series on all animals on the planet."

Though the BBC's nature programming remains the benchmark, some spirited rivalry has sprung up from the commercial Channel Five, which is also based in Bristol.

Bethan Corney, Five's commissioning editor of factual programming, admires the BBC's programming but sees limitations.