Pastore to exit Nat Geo

Tim Pastore, president of original programming and production at National Geographic Channel (NGC), is stepping down from his role and will exit the factual giant this week.

Tim Pastore

Executive VP and Nat Geo Wild general manager Geoff Daniels will take over Pastore’s position, overseeing unscripted content for both NGC and Nat Geo Wild as well as kids’ content, until a permanent replacement is found.

Pastore, who joined Nat Geo in 2013, told staff that he had decided to leave to “pursue new opportunities.”

The exec, who has previously worked as director of production and development at Discovery Channel and also had a one-year stint at BBC Worldwide (now BBC Studios) in the US, was responsible for launching a documentary film banner at Nat Geo as well as series Life Below Zero, Mars and One Strange Rock.

“I know change is hard, especially at a time when we face uncertainty as a company, but rest assured that Geoff and I both have a clear vision for what we need to do and we are excited, as we enter a new fiscal year, to continue along our transformational path,” said National Geographic Global Networks CEO Courteney Monroe in an internal memo to staff.

Parent company National Geographic Partners is one of the 21st Century Fox assets currently being lined up for purchase by Walt Disney Company in a US$52.4bn deal.  Last week it emerged that US media giant Comcast was planning to top that bid for assets that include Fox’s film and TV studios, US cable networks and international channels.