Nik Wallenda’s next highwire act has a date. The famed daredevil will attempt to tightrope walk across the Chicago skyline untethered on Sunday, Nov. 2, with the effort airing live at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on the Discovery Channel to more than 220 countries.
Skyscraper Live with Nik Wallenda will be hosted by Willie Geist and Natalie Morales of NBC News and Jim Cantore of The Weather Channel.
In June 2013, 13 million viewers watched Wallenda become the first person to successfully travel across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope. The special marked Discovery’s highest-rated live event ever and won an Interactive Emmy for multiplatform storytelling for the features, including 360-degree views, videos and backstage moments, on its companion website.
In Chicago, dozens of cameras will be situated throughout the city and on helicopters. Wallenda will attempt the two-part walk at night in one of the windiest sections of the so-called "Windy City," aptly named for its weather and politics.
“This is going to be the most incredible tightrope walk of my career,” Wallenda said. “[I]t’s the ‘Windy City’ and there’s nothing like doing this during winter in Chicago.”
“It is an iconic American city that presents a number of extreme conditions and challenges that Nik has yet to attempt on such a grand scale,” said Marjorie Kaplan, group president of Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet.
