TORONTO, March 15, 2012 /CNW/ - From the threat of Asian carp infesting the Great Lakes to the quality of your drinking water, and from the effects of climate change on sea levels to the impact of the Alberta tar sands on the environment, TVO opens the tap on water issues for Canada Water Week (March 19 to 25) and UN World Water Day (March 22).
Beginning Monday March 19 and continuing through Sunday March 25, TVO, in association with Canada Water Week, will present a lineup of water-themed TV programs and online activities that will examine political, economic and environmental issues surrounding water quality and availability.
The week will kick off with the world premiere of The Water Brothers, an adventure-filled six-part, half-hour series hosted by real-life brothers Alex and Tyler Mifflin who travel around the world in their quest to raise awareness of water issues. The Water Brothers will air over three days March 19 to 21 at 7 and 7:30 pm ET, with a marathon encore of the entire series Sunday March 25 beginning at 7 pm, and then every Tuesday at 7:30 pm beginning March 27.
Join The Water Brothers' Alex and Tyler in a live chat at tvo.org/waterweek where the program will be streamed live Monday to Wednesday March 19 to 21 beginning at 7 pm, and keep the conversation going on water issues affecting you.
On March 19 and 22 at 8 pm, TVO's flagship current affairs program, The Agenda with Steve Paikin, will invite experts to discuss and debate water issues including: The Water Brothers' Alex and Tyler Mifflin to discuss their experiences making their series; Meg French from UNICEF on preventing children from dying from water-borne diseases; Angus Toulouse, Ontario Regional Chief of the Assembly of First Nations on improving water on Ontario reserves; and guest experts on how best to protect water: make it a commodity or declare it a human right.
Also on March 22 at 10 pm, TVO presents the Canadian premiere of first-time filmmaker David Lavallee's documentary White Water, Black Gold. As a mountaineer and hiking guide for over 15 years in Alberta's Columbia Icefields, Lavallee has witnessed profound changes in the mountains due to climate change. Over a three-year period he investigates the impact of developing the second largest deposit of "oil" in the world, the Alberta tar sands, and asks: Is the cost to water and people worth the economic benefits? An encore presentation of White Water, Black Gold airs March 25 at 10 pm.
More documentaries throughout the week include encores of The Refugees of the Blue Planet (March 20 at 9 pm), Water on the Table (March 21 at 9 pm; March 25 at 11 pm), Toxic Trespass (March 22 at 7 pm, repeats 1 am), How the Earth Changed History: Water (March 22 at 9 pm, March 25 at midnight), Wye: Voices from the Valley (March 23 at 7 pm), and National Geographic: Extreme Ice (March 24 at 7 pm).
You can also watch and comment on videos of over thirty water-related programs by visiting tvo.org/waterweek, including Great Canadian Rivers, The Shield and Allan Gregg in Conversation interviews with Maude Barlow, Gwynne Dyer, Michael Byers, George Monbiot, Tim Flannery, and Marq de Villiers.
And TVOKids will help kids get water wise in Gisèle's Big Backyard preschool programming block, The Space afterschool programming block, and tvokids.com with water-themed programs and online activities that teach kids about the importance of water. On March 22, Alex and Tyler Mifflin from The Water Brothers will be live in The Space to answer kids' water questions.
You can find more information and discussion around water issues on TVO's Twitter feed (@TVO), through our hashtag #waterweek, and Facebook Fan Page (www.facebook.com/tvontario).
"TVO is uniquely positioned to go deep on issues like water and the environment and we encourage people to make use of our multi-media educational resources to learn more and join the conversation on some of the world's most pressing matters." says Lisa de Wilde, Chief Executive Officer of TVO.
About TVO
TVO is Ontario's public educational media organization and a trusted source of interactive educational content that informs, inspires and stimulates curiosity and thought. TVO's vision is to empower people to be engaged citizens of Ontario through educational media. TVO is funded primarily by the Province of Ontario and is a registered charity supported by sponsors and thousands of donors. For more information, visit tvo.org.
Where to Find TVO
| On air: Cable channel 2 (may vary in some areas) Bell TV channel 265 TVO HD on Bell Fibe TV channel 1265 Rogers TVO HD channel 580 Rogers-On-Demand channel 100 Shaw Direct channel 353 |
Websites: tvo.org tvokids.com tvoparents.com ilc.org |
Online: Yahoo! YouTube Rogers-On-Demand-Online iTunes BlackBerry App World™ |
Connect: |
Video with caption: "Video: Water Week Ice Promo". Video available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTzgvnxk9pc
Video with caption: "Video: Water Week Drip Promo". Video available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETIa7ohymPM
Video with caption: "Video: The Water Brothers". Video available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ElOrrtQlBc
Video with caption: "Video: Water on the Table promo". Video available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9DlOJDSzJQ
Video with caption: "Video: White Water, Black Gold". Video available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9471YZVOrM
Image with caption: "Photo - Water Week Logo (CNW Group/TVO)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120315_C4794_PHOTO_EN_11183.jpg
Image with caption: "Photo - The Water Brothers (CNW Group/TVO)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120315_C4794_PHOTO_EN_11184.jpg
Image with caption: "Photo - Water on the Table (CNW Group/TVO)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120315_C4794_PHOTO_EN_11185.jpg
Image with caption: "Photo - White Water, Black Gold (CNW Group/TVO)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120315_C4794_PHOTO_EN_11186.jpg
Media Contact for TVO:
Paul Ginis
TVO Communications and Marketing
416.484.2600 x 2445
[email protected]
For The Water Brothers :
Chris Allicock
Amberlight Productions
T: 416-694-3131
C: 416-319-8003
[email protected]
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