• The New York Times, Monday, May 12, 2008 10:45 AM

It was bound to happen eventually. A YouTube clip was the inspiration for a TV nature documentary. The film is National Geographic's "Caught on Safari: Battle at Kruger."
David Budzinski, a tourist from Texas, recorded the scene of a herd of angry buffalo fighting off several lions and a crocodile to save a buffalo calf. His amazing video got more than 30 million hits when he posted it on YouTube, and last summer, the National Geographic Channel purchased the television rights. Last night, the cable channel aired its documentary deconstructing the drama.

Several television channels -- including CW and CNN -- have previously tried to translate the Internet's user content to television, but last night's program made history as the first hour-long TV documentary to be inspired by an amateur YouTube video. NGC called the documentary "complementary" to the online video.

Read the whole story at The New York Times »