NEW YORK — NBC Universal isn’t painting its Rockefeller Center headquarters green — at least not yet — but the company is pushing all of its networks to deliver environmentally-friendly programming next week.
“Dateline NBC” will report on melting snow on mountains in Bolivia, “Today” will have daily segments on renewable energy, Jim Cramer will talk about “green” stocks on CNBC’s “Mad Money” and NBC is encouraging its affiliates to report on environmental issues on local newscasts.
Green is the password in late-night entertainment, too, where “Last Call with Carson Daly” brings on Darryl Hannah to talk about organic skateboards.
NBC Universal will also specifically seek out advertisers with green-friendly messages when it’s selling commercial time on NBC and its other networks this spring.
The company says it isn’t only preaching to others; NBC Universal is installing large solar panels at the company’s movie studios in California, and has eliminated all plastic foam from company cafeterias.
The special “Green Week” effort is the company’s second in six months. NBC Universal is following the lead of corporate parent General Electric Co., which is among many companies sensing that the public looks kindly on pro-environmental efforts.
“We don’t shy away from the fact that green, so to speak, should be green,” said Lauren Zalaznick, the Bravo network chief and head of the NBC Universal Green Council. For example, “Today” drew strong ratings last fall when it sent Ann Curry to the Antarctic, Matt Lauer to Greenland and Al Roker to the equator.
Among the other news efforts, Tim Russert was asked to question presidential candidates about environmental issues last fall on “Meet the Press,” she said.
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