By Jeff Pfeiffer
“It is fair to say there would be no Discovery Channel without Walter Cronkite,” says John S. Hendricks, founder and chairman of Discovery Communications, about the legendary newsman, who passed away Friday at the age of 92. “When we struggled for funding and viability in the early 1980s, Walter was one of the first to see the possibility of a 24-hour channel dedicated to high-quality storytelling about the world around us. His guidance, support and commitment were instrumental in securing the resources and distribution to first launch Discovery Channel in 1985.”
In honor of Cronkite’s important role in launching the channel, and to remember his storied life and career, Discovery Channel will pay tribute to the iconic journalist this Sunday, July 26, with a daylong marathon of Cronkite Remembers, an original eight-part series last seen on the network in 1997. The show features Cronkite taking a retrospective look at events in world history, primarily in the 20th century. He gives a personal account of the last seven decades, mixing film, still pictures, videotape, music, artifacts and anecdotes.
Episodes include: “The Early Years”; “World War II”; “The Cold War”; Television and Politics”; “Vietnam and Civil Rights”; “Man on the Moon”; “The Seventies” and “Summing Up.” The series will air twice in its entirety, from 11am-3am ET/PT.
Additionally, beginning Thursday night, Discovery will start airing customized on-air promos, and on Sunday, a specially created Discovery Channel bug with an image of Cronkite will air. A fansite for Cronkite will be up at Discovery’s site, which includes enhanced content such as highlight clips from Cronkite Remembers, an interactive timeline of his life, and a message board for fans to post their memories of him.