NASHVILLE, Tenn. (July 20, 2009) — The Documentary Channel^® (DOC) will expand its exclusive schedule of IMAX^® Originals^™ programming on Sunday nights during August to showcase its entire 21-film IMAX package that features a family-friendly array of topics ranging from science, outer space and the deep sea, to wildlife, nature, history and subjects for the socially conscious.  DOC is available on DISH Network (Channel 197), and several broadcast stations in major markets including NYC TV (Channel 25) throughout the greater New York metropolitan area.

The 21 films in the collection represent some of the most successful films in IMAX history that have a combined estimated total of more than $600 million in gross box office receipts, including three of the top 10 largest grossing films in IMAX history.  DOC’s Sunday primetime lineup in August includes such IMAX box office hits as the “T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous” (Aug. 2, 8 p.m. ET), “China: The Panda Adventure” (Aug. 2, 9 p.m. ET), “The Nutcracker” (Aug. 23, 8 p.m. ET), Tom Hanks narrated “Magnificent Desolation” (Aug. 30, 8 p.m.), Tom Cruise narrated “Space Station” (Aug. 30, 8:45 p.m. ET) and “Galapagos” (Aug. 30, 9:45 p.m. ET).

“It’s a rare opportunity for IMAX films to be on television and, because they appeal to viewers of all ages, we thought running our entire IMAX Originals package every Sunday night during August was the perfect way to end the summer weekends,” explains Kate Pearson, The Documentary Channel’s senior vice president of programming, who helped DOC become the first television network to secure the exclusive U.S. television rights to the IMAX XXI Film Package with a multi-year contract through Northstar Media.

The network’s complete exclusive IMAX^® Originals^™ schedule in August is as follows:

 Sunday, Aug. 2                        “Mountain Gorilla”                                                            7:15 p.m. ET

                                                 “T-Rex: Back to Cretaceous”                                               8 p.m. ET

                                                 “China: The Panda Adventure:                                              9 p.m. ET

                                                 “Mission to Mir”                                                                   10 pm. ET

Sunday, Aug. 9                        “Ozarks: Legacy and Legend”                                               8 p.m. ET

                                                 “The Dream is Alive”                                                             9 p.m. ET

                                                 “Fires of Kuwait”                                                              9:45 p.m. ET

                                                 “The Last Buffalo”                                                          10:30 p.m. ET

 Sunday, Aug. 16                      “L5: First City in Space”                                                         8 pm. ET

                                                “Destiny In Space”                                                            8:45 p.m. ET

                                                 “Hail Columbia:                                                                 9:30 p.m. ET

                                                 “Survival Island”                                                             10:15 p.m. ET

Sunday, Aug. 23                      “Nutcracker”                                                                          8 p.m. ET

                                                 “Heartland”                                                                       8:45 p.m. ET

                                                 “Into The Deep”                                                               9:30 p.m. ET

                                                 “Secret Life on Earth”                                                    10:15 p.m. ET

Sunday, Aug. 30                      “Blue Planet”                                                                    7:15 p.m. ET

                                                 “Magnificent Desolation”                                                       8 p.m. ET

                                                 “Space Station”                                                                  8:45 p.m. ET

                                     “Galapagos”                                                                       9:45 p.m. ET

                                     “Skyward”                                                                        10:30 p.m. ET

DOC’s Monday “Primetime Premieres” Lineup for August 2009

In addition to IMAX films on Sundays in August, DOC also will feature a unique collection of films during its Monday “Primetime Premieres” highlighted by two films that take the viewer down South to the lands ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, one of the most deadly and costly hurricanes in American history.  On Monday, Aug. 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, just four years after the hurricane struck, DOC will present the U.S. television premiere of “Burn on the Bayou,” which follows a group of unlikely volunteers over a seven-month period of work rebuilding in the Biloxi and Pearlington, Miss.  Immediately following at 10 p.m. ET/PT is the exclusive telecast of “Kamp Katrina,” an award winning cinéma vérité documentary, which follows a small group of people who have taken refuge in a garden transformed into a tent city by an extraordinary New Orleans couple.

Among the other Monday premieres featured in August are “The Living Documents,” which looks into the controversial change in control of Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coastline (Aug. 3, 9 p.m. ET/PT); “The Mysterious Stone Monuments of Markawasi Peru,” an examination of hundreds of bizarre faces discovered in living rock in Central Peru (Aug. 10, 9 p.m. ET/PT); “Match & Marry,” which documents the traditions of match making in the Orthodox Jewish community (Aug. 17, 9 p.m. ET/PT), and “Thread,” which tells the inspirational story of five remarkable Afghan women who are taking control of their lives and their futures and in the process, are helping to rebuild their devastated country (Aug. 31, 9 p.m. ET/PT).

About The Documentary Channel^®: The Documentary Channel (DOC) is the USA’s first 24-hour television network exclusively devoted to documentary films and the independent documentary filmmaker, providing viewers with round-the-clock opportunities to see fascinating, eclectic and award-winning documentary films of all lengths and genres.  Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., with offices in New York and Los Angeles, DOC was founded by Oscar^®-nominated and Emmy^®-winning documentary filmmaker Tom Neff in January 2006.  DOC now reaches over 21 million homes nationwide via DISH Network (Channel 197) and several broadcast stations in major television markets, including NYC TV (Channel 25) throughout the greater New York metropolitan area.  DOC also provides content to online distribution outlets through www.youtube.com/documentarychannel and www.sling.com/network/189/The-Documentary-Channel.  For more information on DOC, visit www.documentarychannel.com.