DISCOVERY Communications’ 100-plus TV networks reach more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 170 countries. Since taking the helm at Discovery in January 2007, David Zaslav has executed a number of initiatives that have focused the organization on growth, performance and operational efficiency; highlighted by a partnership with Oprah Winfrey to launch The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), a multi-platform joint venture coming to 68 million homes in 2009 with a mission to empower, entertain and uplift. He launched Planet Green, Discovery’s cross-company initiative committed to documenting, preserving, and celebrating the planet including the first 24-hour eco-lifestyle TV network. He also drove Discovery’s digital media strategy through the acquisitions of HowStuffWorks.com and Treehugger.com. What were the first things on your ‘to-do’ list when you took over? When I joined Discovery, I laid out three primary objectives. The first was to clarify and strengthen the brand mission of each of our networks by investing in high-quality content that showcases what these brands are at their best. The second was to build a leaner and more entrepreneurial organization that maximizes the efficiencies of our global businesses and addresses the underperforming areas of the company. The last was to launch an aggressive digital media strategy that extends our world-class brands and extensive content library to new platforms, online, on mobile devices, in video games and beyond. What I found when I came to Discovery was a fantastic company with great brands, which people felt passionate about and connected to, that had also been very aggressive about getting channel real estate all around the world. This gave us a broad footprint with more than 10 channels in the U.S. and 100 networks around the world. Discovery also occupied a great niche in the nonfiction programming space – a category that translates very well around the globe and has a long viewing shelf-life. All of this made us a very unique media company with a lot of growth potential. Have all of those things been achieved? And what’s next? We have accomplished a lot in the past two years in many areas. We have invested in more new, high-quality, on-brand programming than ever before in Discovery history, and we’ve begun to put that programming on the air around the world. We also refreshed and strengthened a number of our brands, and begun to recognize the synergies that exist with the networks and programming that we produce in various regions around the globe. On the digital media front too, we have made some great strides with the acquisitions of HowStuffWorks.com and Treehugger.com, which provide great online platforms for extending our brands and programming. As any brand must evolve over time, in your opinion, how has Discovery evolved – before and since you came on board? Discovery is one of the most widely distributed and admired brands in the world. Our viewers know that Discovery stands for high-quality, engaging, and dynamic nonfiction programming. Over the years, the Discovery brand has grown from just Discovery Channel to include Animal Planet, Discovery Science, our lifestyle networks and much more. The brand has become synonymous with all genres of nonfiction content, including science, exploration, survival, natural history, sustainability of the environment, technology, anthropology, paleontology, history, space, archaeology, health and wellness, engineering, adventure, lifestyles and current events. Since I’ve come on board, we’ve really tried to take a hard look at each of our brands to understand what they are when they are at their best, to invest in new, high-quality content that meets those standards, and to see how we can extend that content to new platforms and new markets. What about the next stage of its evolution – where is the Discovery brand going? The next stage is continuing the company’s evolution from being the leading nonfiction television provider in the world to becoming the number-one nonfiction media company on all platforms – everywhere that consumers view and interact with content. Discovery has leveraged the appeal and credibility of the Discovery Channel brand to build new brands and businesses worldwide. Just this past June, we launched Planet Green, the first 24-hour eco-lifestyle network in the U.S., and we’ve also launched green programming blocks in Asia, Latin America and the UK. Going forward, we want to continue to extend content from that brand and all of Discovery’s brands across our networks and platforms worldwide. One of our core strengths is our extensive global footprint as well as our extensive, rich library of nonfiction content. Our international platform is, I believe, as strong or stronger than any media company. And we have a great opportunity to build on our strength in more than 170 countries. That has been a focus for the last year and a half and will continue to be a primary focus for us in the future. Years from now, when people look back on your time at Discovery, what do you think other people will view as your legacy? I hope that people will say that Discovery, during my time with the company, really came into its own as a global brand, a fully public company, and the number-one nonfiction media company in the world, not only on television, but across all platforms. And, I hope that we are remembered for great content, like When We Left Earth: the NASA Missions, which I believe will endure over time and connect with viewers on a very deep and lasting level.
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