Contact Information

One Discovery Place
Silver Spring, MD 20910 [1]

240-662-2000

https://corporate.discovery.com/

Key Executives

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

History

Discovery Communications was founded in 1985 by John Hendricks [6]. On June 17, 1985 The Discovery Channel was launched on air to about 156,000 subscribers in the United States and premiered the show “Iceberg Alley,” a program about the North Atlantic waters. Two years later, Discovery Channel premiered one of its most popular traditions, “Shark Week.”

In 1991, Discovery Communications acquired its second channel, TLC for $30 million [7], and soon after, purchased Animal Planet in 1996.

After rapid growth and expansion, by 2001, The Discovery Channel became the nation’s most distributed television brand. This significant growth increased as Discovery Communications spread into other countries, as well as acquired more channels. By 2004, the company had reached over 1 billion subscribers worldwide [8].

Today, Discovery Communications owns over 50 different channels and media companies including The Oprah Winfrey Network, Science Channel, and Eurosport [9]. Discovery Communications reaches 3 billion subscribers worldwide and is available in over 220 markets [10].

Finances

Discovery Communications is a publically traded company and has seen fluctuations in its stock throughout the last several months. Despite these fluctuations, in the past three months, the company’s stock has yet to fall below $24.33 per share and has hit its high at $29.42 per share on Friday, March 18, 2016. After several months of having stocks below their simple moving average, the company was able to surpass this on March 1, 2016 [12]. Since then, Discovery Communications has seen a positive trend in their stock prices, with their stocks having not fallen below the simple moving average in almost two months. Discovery Communications is set to release their first quarterly report on May 5, 2016.

Winter Releases

President Obama on DNews [13]

On April 11th, President Obama hosted five episode of Science Channel’s “Science Presents DNews,” in which he discussed a variety of topics ranging from pollution to medicine to technology [14]. The partnership between Science Channel and the White House aligned with the White House Science Fair that took place on April 13th as well as the US Science and Engineering Festival that also took place throughout that window.

 

For Peete’s Sake

“For Peete’s Sake” is a reality TV show that premiered on OWN: the Oprah Winfrey Network on March 19, 2016. “For Peete’s Sake” follows the lives of the family of former NFL player, Rodney Peete and his wife, “21 Jump Street” actress, Holly Robinson Peete [15]. The show takes a comedic look at Rodney and Holly’s four kids, as well as Robinson Peete’s eccentric, 80-year-old mother. OWN‘s latest docuseries has been added to the network’s Saturday night schedule. It was produced exclusively for The Oprah Winfrey Network by Tremendous! Entertainment and has signed on Colleen Needles Steward, John Ferriter, Kyell Thomas, Shannon Keenan Demers and Andy Meyer as producers, alongside the Peete’s, who will also be executive producers on the show [16].

 

It’s Not You, It’s Men

Also premiering on The Oprah Winfrey Network this season is “It’s Not You, It’s Men,” a relationship talk show hosted by musicians, Tyrese Gibson and Rev Run [17]. The show uses Gibson’s status as a bachelor and single father to contrast Rev Run’s 20 years of marriage in an attempt to generate with diverse opinions and conflicting viewpoints. Each episode, Gibson and Rev Run use their difference in experience to discuss topics such as modern romance, dating, and relationships with a featured celebrity guest. Past guests have included Jordin Sparks, Marlon Wayans, and Vin Diesel. “It’s Not You, It’s Men” premiered on January 23, 2016. It is produced by CBS Television Distribution in association with Voltron Productions and Simmons/Lehman productions. Gibson and Rev Run are executive producers on the show along with Jerome Martin, Isabella Castro, Michael Lehman, and creator/showrunner Eric Pankowski [18].

 

New Programming and Upfronts

Following Discovery’s success last year in not spending money on a lavish upfront party, Discovery has opted to take a similar approach this year, and has broken up their upfronts into 14 smaller agency presentations throughout the country, and have decided to reallocate the former upfront money to content production [19]. The goal in this is to expand and improve content, while also increasing the Discovery Communications presence internationally.

Discovery Channel

In an effort to gain new viewers, Discovery Channel is adding their first two scripted television series. The first, titled “Harley and the Davidsons,” is a miniseries that follows the story of William Harley and Arthur Davidson, creators of the iconic motorcycle. Discovery is hoping to attract audiences to the series by featuring “Game of Thrones“ stars, Michiel Huisman and Robert Aramayo [20]. The show is set to air September, 2016. The second scripted series, entitled “Manifesto,” is an FBI drama from the minds of Kevin Spacey and Dana Brunetti and tells the story of one man’s search and take down of “Unabomber,” Ted Kaczynski [21].

TLC

Following major scandals in the past several years with both “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” and “19 Kids and Counting,” TLC is trying hard to gain back audiences it may have lost. Because of this, The Learning Channel also has ordered its first scripted series, to be produced by Tyler Perry. The show will follow a young woman forced to return to her home in a trailer park amid scandals in her life in D.C. [22]. Additionally, the network hopes to further pick up more viewers by adding two shows that follow a similar format as “Trading Places,” as well as two other shows about large families that will likely take the place of “19 Kids and Counting.”

Additionally, this summer TLC will be launching under a new campaign with the slogan: “I Am.” The “I Am” campaign uses its current stars and shows to encourage viewers to think positively about themselves, and to recognize the unique aspects of themselves that make each person special. In light of TLC’s recent controversies, TLC president and general manager, Nancy Daniels, said “with real people, real things happen.” The campaign symbolizes the network’s desires to move on from the scandals, and to remind their viewers of their positive message.

 

What’s Next

On April 19, Discovery Communications and HBO announced that they would join together in purchasing equity stakes in OTOY, a virtual reality and 3D graphics company [24].

Both Discovery and HBO hope to use this newfound access to holographic technology to produce innovative forms of technology on various different media platforms. Discovery aims to get this content out on TV, web, mobile, as well as to create wearable technologies for both virtual reality and augmented reality [25]. Discovery hopes that this outlet will be the source to “[take] Discovery VR, to a whole new level” [26].

 

 

 

Works Cited

[1] “Discovery Communications, Inc.” Discovery Communications Inc. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[2] “David M. Zaslav.” (n.d.): n. pag. Discovery Communications Inc. Discovery Communications. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.

[3] “Jean-Briac (JB) Perrette.” (n.d.): n. pag. Discovery Communications Inc. Discovery Communications. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.

[4] “Andrew Warren” (n.d.): n. pag. Discovery Communications Inc. Discovery Communications. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.

[5] “Marjorie Kaplan” (n.d.): n. pag. Discovery Communications Inc. Discovery Communications. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.

[6] DiscoveryComms. “Discovery Communications Founded with Launch of Discovery Channel.” YouTube. YouTube, 18 June 2015. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[7] “Discovery Communications, Inc. – Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Discovery Communications, Inc.” Discovery Communications, Inc. – Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Discovery Communications, Inc. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[8] “Discovery Communications Through the Decades.” Discovery Through the Decades. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016. <http://30yearsofdiscovery.com/>.

[9] “Discovery Communications, Inc.” Discovery Communications Inc. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

v[10] “Discovery Communication: AT A GLANCE.” (n.d.): n. pag. Discovery Communications Inc. Web. 

[11] “Discovery Communications, Inc.” Yahoo! Finance. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[12] “Discovery Communications Inc. Series A DISCA (U.S.: Nasdaq).” DISCA Advanced Charting. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[13] DNewsChannel. “President Obama Explains Scott Kelly’s Year In Space.“YouTube. YouTube, 11 Apr. 2016. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[14] “Obama To Present Science Channel Segment All Week.” Deadline. N.p., 11 Apr. 2016. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[15] “Holly Robinson Peete and Rodney Peete to Star in New Docuseries on OWN.” Oprah.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[16] “OWN Orders Holly Robinson Peete and Rodney Peete Docuseries.” The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[17] OWN. “Tyrese and Rev Run’s Sage Advice for the Single Ladies | It’s Not You, It’s Men | OWN.” YouTube. YouTube, 12 Mar. 2016. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[18] “Watch: OWN Previews New Primetime Series ‘It’s Not You, It’s Men’ (Tyrese Gibson & Rev Run Host).” Shadow and Act. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[19] Lynch, Jason. “Discovery Communications Is Thinking Globally (and Digitally) With Advertising Bouncing Back.” AdWeek. N.p., 31 Mar. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[20] Littleton, Cynthia. “‘Game of Thrones’ Actors to Star in Discovery Miniseries ‘Harley and the Davidsons’.” Variety. N.p., 07 Jan. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[21] Wagmeister, Elizabeth. “Kevin Spacey, Dana Brunetti FBI Drama ‘Manifesto’ Lands Series Order at Discovery Channel.” Variety. N.p., 31 Mar. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[22] Lynch, Jason. “Discovery Communications Is Thinking Globally (and Digitally) With Advertising Bouncing Back.” AdWeek. N.p., 31 Mar. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[23] “OTOY TO PRESENT ENTERPRISE CLOUD PLATFORM AT NVIDIA GPU TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE.” Visual Computing Leadership from NVIDIA. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[24] “HBO, Discovery Acquire Stakes in 3D Graphics Firm Otoy to Create Holographic Content.” Variety. N.p., 19 Apr. 2016. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[25] “HBO and Discovery Invest in OTOY to Create Universal Publishing Platform for TV, Movies and Original Holographic Content • OTOY.” OTOY HBO and Discovery Invest in OTOY to Create Universal Publishing Platform for TV Movies and Original Holographic Content Comments. N.p., 19 Apr. 2016. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

[26] Villarreal, Yvonne. “HBO and Discovery Communications Get into VR with 3D Graphics Firm Otoy.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[27] “Discovery And France’s TF1 Group In Talks For Strategic Alliance.“Deadline. N.p., 13 Nov. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[28] “Animal Planet Logo.” Logo Database. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[29] “Discovery Channel Logo | Logok.” Logok. N.p., 15 Apr. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[30] “TLC.” Peacock Productions. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

 

NOTE: there was a formatting issue i was unable to fix regarding the spacing on the titles for Marjorie Kaplan and Andrew Warren