ATLANTA – Southern Company has renewed its sponsorship of Turner South’s half-hour weekly series, The Natural South. The second season will launch this Saturday, Feb. 8, at 6:30 p.m. (ET).

The Natural South series, which won seven Telly Awards in its first season for programming, explores the environmental jewels of the Southeast. The mission of the series is to feature the attempts being made to preserve the wildlife and natural resources in the Southeast and offer ways viewers can help by making changes in their own home environment.

“The Southeast boasts some our nation’s most treasured habitats and natural resources,” said Dwight Evans, Southern Company executive vice president of external affairs. “As a business and as individuals who live here, it’s incumbent upon us to learn as much as we can about how to protect our environment. The Natural South is one avenue that can help educate people in our region as to what needs to be done and what we all can do. We’re again pleased that Southern Company can sponsor such a program.”

The first show of the 22-episode season will focus on “Operation Migration,” based on one man’s journey to lead young Canadian geese on their winter migration. Additional programs will explore herbal remedies, the return of the manatees in Florida, and solutions for restoring disappearing wetlands in Mississippi, to name a few.

Additionally, each episode will wrap environmental and ecology segments around the main “personal environment” centerpiece. An environmentalist host will guide viewers through southeastern resources and ecosystems that tie in to the featured home environment.

The program will be hosted again by Cathy Sakas, a professional nature educator and Emmy-nominated television producer. Two nature documentary series called “Coastal Naturalist” earned her acclaimed recognition and a conservation award from the Georgia Wildlife Federation in 1995.

"Turner South is extremely pleased to partner with Southern Company in bringing viewers a second season of The Natural South," said David Rudolph, general manager, Turner South. "In its first year, this award-winning program exceeded expectations in presenting environmental issues and resolutions in a compelling television format.”

Turner South, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.`s 24-hour regional entertainment network, presents a mix of original programming, movies, regional news and sports to cable and DBS affiliates in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and regions of North Carolina. Available to more than 6.4 million subscribers, the 17-time Emmy-winning network also offers games from the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Hawks and is the official home of the NHL`s Atlanta Thrashers. For more information, access the Web site at turnersouth.com or AOL keyword: turner south.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., an AOL Time Warner company, is a major producer of news and entertainment product around the world and the leading provider of programming for the basic cable industry.

With 4 million customers and nearly 37,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier super-regional energy company in the Southeast and a leading U.S. producer of electricity. Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states, a growing competitive generation company, an energy services business and a competitive retail natural gas business, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are 15 percent below the national average. Southern Company has been named No. 1 on Fortune magazine’s 2002 “America’s Most Admired Companies” list in the Electric and Gas Utility industry. Southern Company has more than 500,000 shareholders, making its common stock one of the most widely held in the United States. Visit the Southern Company Web site at www.southerncompany.com.