FOX and Nat Geo Channel to Air Breakthrough Prize Ceremony, Celebrating Scientists and Mathematicians

FOX and the National Geographic Channel will celebrate the work of today's leading scientists and mathematicians by broadcasting this year's Breakthrough Prize Ceremony, an awards show honoring the world's most prominent scientific researchers. Seth MacFarlane, executive producer of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey and creator of Family Guy, will host the ceremony, which will air live on Nat Geo on Sunday, Nov. 8, with a one-hour version scheduled for FOX on Sunday, Nov. 29.

"We are proud to join forces with Don [Mischer, producer] and the Breakthrough Prize team not only to honor the best and brightest in science shaping the world of today and tomorrow, but also to bring this important event to the broadest global audience possible," said Courteney Monroe, CEO of National Geographic Channels U.S. "National Geographic was founded on the spirit of mavericks, and this partnership affords us the opportunity to continue this great tradition by recognizing those who are breaking barriers and expanding the limits of possibility."

The Breakthrough Prize honors important achievements in the fields of Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences, and Mathematics. Tech industry leaders Sergey Brin (Google), Anne Wojcicki (23andMe), Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan (Facebook), Yuri Milner and Julia Milner (DST Global), and Jack Ma and Cathy Zhang (Alibaba) launched the prize in 2013, aiming to celebrate scientists and generate excitement about the pursuit of science as a career. Each of the Breakthrough Prize laureates receives a $3 million prize, and a total of seven prizes will be awarded.

This year, for the first time, the ceremony will also feature the Breakthrough Junior Challenge for students, which will award $400,000 in educational prizes to a student whose original video brings to life a scientific or mathematical idea or principle.

"It is an honor to partner with the Breakthrough Prize team to celebrate the incredible men and women who are driving the world's most significant scientific advances," said Gary Newman and Dana Walden, chairmen and CEOs, Fox Television Group. "We hope that by showcasing these great minds and their important work to millions of viewers, we can help them inspire the next generation of scientists."

The event is one of several upcoming programs at Nat Geo that explore the forefront of modern science, including Breakthrough, in which six Hollywood visionaries bring to life the stories, people, and technology behind the world's most cutting-edge scientific innovations, premiering November 1. In addition, the channel recently announced a new season of the acclaimed climate change series Years of Living Dangerously, which explores the effects of climate change across the planet, premiering in 2016.

The Breakthrough Prize Ceremony will air live on Nat Geo on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 10/9c, with the one-hour version scheduled for FOX on Sunday, Nov. 29, at 7-8 p.m. ET/PT. The one-hour version will air globally on the National Geographic Channel in 171 countries and 45 languages.