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Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational
mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit informati ...
factual television Factual television is a genre of non-fiction television programming that documents actual events and people. These types of programs are also described as observational documentary, fly on the wall, docudrama, and reality television. The genre ...
conglomerate based in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Channel,
Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily ...
,
Science Channel Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, man ...
, and
TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...
. In 2018, the company acquired Scripps Networks Interactive, adding networks such as
Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ( ...
, HGTV, and
Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...
to its portfolio. Since the purchase, Discovery described itself as serving members of "passionate" audiences, and also placed a larger focus on streaming services built around its properties. Discovery owned or had interests in local versions of its channel brands in international markets, in addition to its other major regional operations such as
Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territories, ...
(a pan-European group of sports channels, most prominently the rightsholder of the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
throughout most of Europe),
GolfTV GolfTV was an international streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit and ran by its Warner Bros. Discovery Golf division, which aired golf tournaments, news and documentaries. History In June 20 ...
(an international
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...
-focused streaming service, which is the international digital rightsholder of the
PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
),
Discovery Communications Nordic Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The subsidiary is responsible for managing the collection of their cable and satellite networks around the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. History WarnerMedia ...
(which operates general-interest channels in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland), TVN Group in Poland, and a portfolio of various free-to-air channels in Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. In May 2021,
AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
announced its proposal to merge its media subsidiary
WarnerMedia Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...
with Discovery, Inc. The transaction was approved by the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
in December 2021 and was completed on April 8, 2022, forming
Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with Di ...
.


History

The company was established in 1985 as the Cable Educational Network. Its namesake and flagship brand, Discovery Channel, first launched on June 17, the same year. In 1991, Discovery Channel's owners acquired
The Learning Channel TLC is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. First established in 1980 as The Learning Channel, it initially focused on educational and instructional programming. By the late 1990s, after an acquisition by the ow ...
. Three years later, Cable Educational Network was renamed Discovery Communications. In October 1996, Discovery launched several new spin-off networks, including
Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily ...
, and the digital cable channels
Discovery Kids Discovery Kids (stylized as Discovery K!ds) is a brand name owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Starting as a television segment within the Discovery Channel, the brand expanded as a separate television channel. Most of its worldwide channels were e ...
,
Discovery Travel & Living Discovery Travel & Living is a defunct channel brand from Discovery Communications. This name was used in countries of Europe, Latin America and Asia. In other parts of the world the channel is known as Travel and Living Channel. It features tra ...
,
Discovery Civilization Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Amer ...
, and
Science Channel Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, man ...
. This was followed by the 1997 purchase of a 70% stake in
Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...
, and the 1998 launches of
Discovery en Español Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...
, Discovery Wings, and
Discovery Health Channel Discovery Health Channel was an American subscription television channel. Launched in July 1998, it was owned by Discovery Communications as a spin-off of Discovery Channel, focusing on health and wellness-oriented programming. In the beginni ...
. Also in 1998, Discovery acquired a stake in the struggling CBS Eye on People channel; Discovery eventually acquired the remainder of CBS's stake, leading to its January 1999 relaunch as Discovery People. The network quietly folded in 2000, being replaced by other Discovery channels on providers. On September 1, 2001, Discovery Communications bought The Health Channel, and announced that it would be re-branded as
FitTV FitTV was an American pay television channel, owned by Discovery Communications. The channel focused on fitness and exercise-related programming. FitTV offered programming with such fitness celebrities as Cathe Friedrich, Sharon Mann, Gilad Jankl ...
. In 2002, Discovery relaunched Discovery Civilization as Discovery Times, as part of a joint venture with ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''. In June 2002, coinciding with Discovery's 17th anniversary, the company launched a 24/7 high definition channel known as Discovery HD Theater. In 2003, Discovery Communications moved its headquarters from Bethesda to Silver Spring. In 2003 and 2004, Discovery acquired academic film companies such as AGC, AIMS Multimedia, and Clearvue & SVE to form Discovery Education, which is now led by Bill Goodwyn. In 2019, Discovery Communications moved its headquarters to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, keeping 300 employees in a smaller hub in Silver Spring.


Zaslav era

Former
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primaril ...
executive
David Zaslav David Zaslav (born January 15, 1960) is an American media executive who currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Warner Bros. Discovery. Zaslav spearheaded the transaction between AT&T and Discovery to combine with Warne ...
was named president and CEO of Discovery Communications on November 16, 2006. In the years that followed, Zaslav placed a major focus on bolstering Discovery's core networks, programming, and expanding the company's reach into digital media. He described these goals as reflecting an expansion into becoming a "content company" rather than just a "cable company". In March 2007, Discovery sold its stake in Travel Channel back to Cox Communications, in exchange for the stake in Discovery that Cox owned. Cox would later sell the controlling interest in the channel to Scripps Networks Interactive in 2009. In June 2008, Discovery Home was replaced by
Planet Green Destination America is an American cable television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The network carries programming focused on the culture of the United States—including food, lifestyles, an ...
, a network devoted primarily to environmentalism and sustainable living. In 2007, according to Crunchbase,
TreeHugger ''TreeHugger'' is a sustainability website that reports on news, and other subjects like eco-friendly design, homes, and gardens. It was rated the top sustainability blog of 2007 by Nielsen Netratings, and was included in Time Magazine's 200 ...
was acquired by Discovery Communications on August 1, 2007, for $10 million. In 2012,
Mother Nature Network Mother Nature Network (mnn.com) was a website with news and information related to sustainability, health, lifestyle, technology, money, food, home, and family. Founded in 2009 by former marketing executive Joel Babbit and Rolling Stones keyboar ...
, founded by Joel Babbit and Chuck Leavell (now Narrative Content Group) acquired TreeHugger. On January 15, 2008, Discovery announced that it had entered into a joint venture with Oprah Winfrey's
Harpo Productions Harpo Productions (or Harpo Studios) is an American multimedia production company founded by Oprah Winfrey and based in West Hollywood, California. It is the sole subsidiary of her media and entertainment company Harpo, Inc. The name "Harpo" is ...
to relaunch Discovery Health as a new service, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, in 2009. In 2008, Discovery Times was relaunched as
Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Amer ...
, a new brand that would be dedicated to
true crime True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 pe ...
programs and documentaries. The company also formed its Emerging Networks Group, and named Clark Bunting as president and Clint Stinchcomb as executive vice president and general manager. On April 30, 2009, Discovery announced a joint venture with
Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...
to relaunch Discovery Kids as a new youth- and family-oriented entertainment channel. The channel, ultimately named The Hub, launched on October 10, 2010. After multiple delays, OWN officially launched on January 1, 2011. On March 17, 2009, Discovery Communications sued
Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...
for patent infringement by its Kindle
e-reader An e-reader, also called an e-book reader or e-book device, is a mobile electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital e-books and periodicals. Any device that can display text on a screen may act as an e-read ...
line, regarding "secure distribution of electronic text and graphics to subscribers and secure storage". The patents were originally developed by Discovery founder
John Hendricks John Samuel Hendricks (born March 29, 1952)"John Hendricks: An Oral History," The Cable Center, September 2, 2003. is an American businessman and is the founder and former chairman of Discovery, Inc. (now a part of Warner Bros. Discovery) a broa ...
, who had been developing technologies related to
e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
s and the digitization of television programs. While Discovery had divested the television-related patents, it retained the e-book patents. Amazon subsequently accused Discovery of violating a patent for an "Internet-based customer referral system"; The two parties settled in 2011. On October 4 of 2011, due to the wider implementation of high-definition feeds for mainstream cable channels, HD Theater was relaunched as
Velocity Velocity is the directional speed of an object in motion as an indication of its rate of change in position as observed from a particular frame of reference and as measured by a particular standard of time (e.g. northbound). Velocity i ...
, a new "upscale male" network focusing on automotive programming. On May 28, 2012, Planet Green (which had begun to abandon its original concept in 2010 due to poor viewership) was relaunched as
Destination America Destination America is an American cable television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The network carries programming focused on the culture of the United States—including food, lifestyles, an ...
. In January 2014, Discovery launched
Curiosity Curiosity (from Latin '' cūriōsitās'', from ''cūriōsus'' "careful, diligent, curious", akin to ''cura'' "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in humans ...
, a website that aggregates
online education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...
content. In April 2014, Discovery made an investment and strategic partnership with Dog TV, a television network made specifically for dogs. In May 2014, Discovery and its shareholder Liberty Media acquired British television studio
All3Media All3Media Limited is a British worldwide independent television, film and digital production and distribution company based in London, England. The All3Media group comprises more than 40 production and distribution companies from across the U ...
for $930 million in a 50/50 joint venture. The new ownership stated that All3Media would be operated as an independent company. In October 2014, Discovery acquired controlling interest in Hub Network from Hasbro and re-branded it as Discovery Family. In November 2014, Curiosity was spun out as a venture-funded startup, receiving $6 million in funding. In December 2015, Discovery launched Discovery Go, a
TV Everywhere TV Everywhere (also known as authenticated streaming or authenticated video on-demand) refers to a type of subscription business model wherein access to streaming video content from a television channel requires users to "authenticate" themse ...
service offering access to live streaming and on-demand content from Discovery Communications' cable networks. In May 2016, Discovery initiated a restructuring plan aiming to save $40 to $60 million by the third quarter of 2016, including a shift in strategy to "maximize" its linear television business whilst plotting larger investments in content, digital media, sports, and international markets. In August 2016, Discovery purchased a minority stake in the Hong Kong-based digital talent and content company VS Media; Discovery intended to have VS distribute
Discovery Digital Networks Discovery Digital Networks was a San Francisco based multi-channel Internet television and digital cable network that created, produced and distributed streaming television shows on niche topics. It was sold by Discovery Communications into Group ...
content in China, and to offer their own resources to VS. In October 2016, Discovery purchased a minority stake in
Group Nine Media Group Nine Media was an American digital media holding company based in New York City. The company comprises Thrillist, NowThis, The Dodo, and Seeker. The four brands and former brand Sourcefed, merged to form Group Nine Media in October 20 ...
, a digital media holding company consisting of Thrillist Media Group,
NowThis NowThis News is a progressive social media-focused news organization founded in 2012. The company posts short (in most cases 15 seconds long) news videos and hyperpartisan content. History NowThis News was founded by ''Huffington Post'' co-fo ...
, The Dodo and Discovery's digital network Seeker—for $100 million. The transaction gave Discovery an option to acquire a majority stake at a later date.


Acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive

On July 31, 2017, Discovery announced it would acquire Scripps Networks Interactive, owner of networks such as
Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ( ...
, HGTV, and
DIY Network Magnolia Network is an American basic cable network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Chip and Joanna Gaines. It broadcasts personality-based lifestyle programs related to topics such as home construction, renovation, and cuisine. The channe ...
, for $14.6 billion, pending regulatory approval. On March 6, 2018, the acquisition was completed, with the company renamed as Discovery, Inc. afterwards. Following the purchase, SNI shareholders owned 20% of Discovery's stock. Discovery retained an operational hub in SNI's home city of
Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...
, but planned to move its corporate headquarters from Silver Spring, Maryland, where it had operated since 2003, to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in late-2019. Discovery's brands were reorganized into two groups under different chief brand officers: SNI's chief programmer Kathleen Finch became chief brand officer of Lifestyle, overseeing TLC, the six former Scripps channels, and Discovery's other lifestyle networks. Rich Ross, who formerly served as group president of Discovery and Science, stepped down, and would be replaced by TLC president Nancy Daniels as chief brand officer of Discovery & Factual. An on-air result of the acquisition were multiple programs featuring crossovers between TLC and Scripps talent, such as the Food Network series ''Buddy vs. Duff'' (a cake design competition series starring Buddy Valastro and
Duff Goldman Jeffrey Adam "Duff" Goldman is a pastry chef, television personality, and cookbook author. He is the executive chef of the Baltimore-based Charm City Cakes shop, which was featured in the Food Network reality television show '' Ace of Cakes'', ...
of the TLC and Food Network programs ''
Cake Boss ''Cake Boss'' is an American reality television series, which originally aired on the cable television network TLC. The series premiered on April 19, 2009, and has spawned four spin-offs: '' Next Great Baker'', ''Kitchen Boss'', ''Bake You Ric ...
'' and ''
Ace of Cakes ''Ace of Cakes'' is an American reality television show that aired on the Food Network. The show focused on the daily operations of Duff Goldman's custom cake shop, Charm City Cakes, in Baltimore, Maryland; including small-business ownership, wor ...
''), and a revival of TLC's ''
While You Were Out ''While You Were Out'' is an American reality series that aired episodes on the cable channel TLC. The format of the show is similar to TLC's ''Trading Spaces'' (which, in turn, is based on the BBC TV series ''Changing Rooms''). ''While You We ...
'' incorporating HGTV personalities. On August 3, 2017, Discovery announced that it would contribute Velocity into a joint venture with the digital, live events, and direct-to-consumer businesses of automotive publisher TEN: The Enthusiast Network. Discovery will hold a majority stake in the venture; it will not include TEN's print brands, but there will be opportunities for cross-promotion. In April 2018, it was announced that TEN had been renamed
Motor Trend Group Motor Trend Group, LLC, formerly known as Source Interlink Media and TEN: The Enthusiast Network, is a media company that specializes in enthusiast brands, such as ''Motor Trend'', ''Hot Rod'', and ''Roadkill''. Headquartered in New York City, ...
, and that Velocity would be re-branded as an extension of its namesake magazine ''
Motor Trend ''MotorTrend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949. Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles published ''MotorTrend'' until 1998, when it was sold to ...
''. In December 2017, Discovery announced that it would acquire an additional 24.5% stake in OWN that it did not already own, for $70 million. Oprah Winfrey will remain as CEO of OWN, and extended her exclusivity agreement with the network and Discovery through 2025. Harpo Productions retains a "significant minority stake" in the venture. In February 2018, Discovery sold a majority stake in Discovery Education to the private equity firm Francisco Partners.


Focus on direct-to-consumer services

During its 2018 upfronts, Zaslav stated that the company was now strongly focused on serving "passionate fans and passionate audiences", and was preparing to increase its focus on direct-to-consumer offerings targeting such audiences. The SNI purchase, Eurosport's Olympics rights, and the aforementioned ''Motor Trend''-branded network were described as being examples of this strategy.
Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ( ...
Kitchen would also launch in 2019, with a focus on live and on-demand cooking classes. In June 2018, Discovery announced a 12-year agreement to acquire the international media rights to the
PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
, with plans to develop an international streaming service to house these rights. The service was officially announced in October 2018 as
GolfTV GolfTV was an international streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit and ran by its Warner Bros. Discovery Golf division, which aired golf tournaments, news and documentaries. History In June 20 ...
, with Eurosport executive vice president Alex Kaplan named the president and general manager of Discovery Golf. Former Amazon executive Peter Faricy, who was named Discovery's chief executive of global direct-to-consumer operations in August 2018, considered GolfTV consistent with the aforementioned strategy, as golf was one of several sports "where people's passions and their interest in participating and learning more becomes a core part of their life." With Discovery choosing 230 Park Avenue South as its new New York City headquarters, Discovery sold its former Silver Spring headquarters to Foulger-Pratt and
Cerberus Capital Management Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is an American private equity firm,Leaders Magazine"Providing Economic Opportunity: An Interview with The Honorable Dan Quayle, Chairman, Cerberus Global Investments, LLC". specializing in distressed investing. ...
in September 2018, and leased a smaller space at nearby 8403 Colesville Road. In November 2018, Chip and Joanna Gaines of the former HGTV series '' Fixer Upper'' announced on ''
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...
'', that they were in early talks to form a "lifestyle focused media network" with Discovery named after their personal company Magnolia. It was reported that Discovery had considered rebranding either
DIY Network Magnolia Network is an American basic cable network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Chip and Joanna Gaines. It broadcasts personality-based lifestyle programs related to topics such as home construction, renovation, and cuisine. The channe ...
or
Great American Country Great American Family is an American cable television network. Owned by Great American Media, it broadcasts family-oriented general entertainment programming, including television series and made-for-TV movies. It was originally established in ...
as this new channel. In April 2019, Discovery confirmed its Magnolia joint venture, which is scheduled to launch in 2020 and replace DIY Network, with an over-the-top subscription component to launch later. Magnolia Network was originally scheduled to launch on October 4, 2020, but it was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. It was also announced that ''Fixer Upper'' would be revived for the new channel. In January 2019, Discovery increased its ownership of Play Sports Group, operator of the YouTube channel
Global Cycling Network Global Cycling Network (GCN) is a cycling-related YouTube channel which was launched in 2013. It is run by the multi-channel network Play Sports Network, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel is presented by Daniel Lloyd, Under-23 ...
, to 71%. Discovery previously acquired a 20% share in 2017. The group is the foundation for an in development global cycling OTT service. On April 1, 2019, after a previous agreement with the broadcaster lapsed six years prior, Discovery announced a 10-year global content partnership with
BBC Studios BBC Studios is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Worldwide. ...
, under which it will become the exclusive subscription video-on-demand rightsholder of programming from the
BBC Natural History Unit The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including '' ...
(which will become the basis of an international subscription service by 2020) outside of China, Ireland, and the UK. In addition, Discovery and the BBC reached an agreement to break up their
UKTV UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through ...
joint venture (which was inherited from Scripps), with Discovery acquiring the BBC's shares in the Good Food, Home (TV channel), Home, and Really (TV channel), Really channels, and BBC Studios acquiring Discovery's shares in the seven remaining channels, and its streaming platform UKTV Play. Home was later rebranded as a local version of HGTV, and Good Food was closed in favor of the local version of Food Network. On May 13, 2019, Discovery announced that it would acquire ''Golf Digest'' from Condé Nast to integrate into its Discovery Golf division. In March 2020, Discovery began to deploy a new direct-to-consumer brand known as Discovery+, initially in India, which would focus on content from across its factual and lifestyle television brands, as well as the BBC. In December 2020, Discovery announced that it would launch Discovery+ in the United States on January 4, 2021, which would feature new exclusive programming from across Discovery's brands, and previews of Magnolia Network (whose linear launch had since been delayed to 2022). In May 2021, Discovery formed a multi-platform content partnership with the Georgia Aquarium.


Merger with WarnerMedia

On May 17, 2021,
AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
announced that it had reached an agreement to merge its content and broadcasting subsidiary,
WarnerMedia Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...
(the former Time Warner, which AT&T had acquired in 2018 for just over $85 billion in an attempt to become a Vertical integration, vertically integrated media conglomerate) with Discovery Inc. to form a new company, subject to regulatory approval. The merger, scheduled to be completed in mid-2022, would be structured as a Reverse Morris Trust; AT&T shareholders will hold a 71% interest in the new company's stock and appoint seven board members, and Discovery shareholders will hold 29% and appoint six board members. AT&T will receive $43 billion in cash and debt from the spin-off. Zaslav will lead the new company. He stated that the new company's goal would be to "[tell] the most amazing stories and have a ton of fun doing it", and emphasized that the two companies spend over $20 billion annually on content (outpacing The Walt Disney Company, Disney, Netflix and even Amazon (company), Amazon). The company will aim to expand their streaming services (which includes WarnerMedia's HBO Max) to reach 400 million global subscribers. On June 1, 2021, it was announced that the merged company would be known as
Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with Di ...
, and an interim wordmark was unveiled with the tagline "The stuff dreams are made from"—a line from the 1941 Warner Bros. film The Maltese Falcon (1941 film), ''The Maltese Falcon''. Zaslav stated that the name would reflect "the combination of Warner Bros.' fabled hundred-year legacy of creative, authentic storytelling and taking bold risks to bring the most amazing stories to life, with Discovery's global brand that has always stood brightly for integrity, innovation and inspiration". On June 7, 2021, Discovery announced that it would divest Great American Country to Great American Media, GAC Media, a new Fort Worth-based investment group led by Tom Hicks and former Crown Media Holdings CEO William J. Abbott, Bill Abbott. Electronic Arts, who were a bidder in the proposed sale of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, purchased the mobile gaming studio Playdemic from WBIE for in the same month. In September 2021, Fox Corporation acquired TMZ from WarnerMedia in a deal worth about $50 million with TMZ being operated under the Fox Entertainment division. In November 2021, Discovery and WarnerMedia discussed a plan to combine the two streaming services, HBO Max and Discovery+, into one streaming service in two phases: an initial phase that allows for quick bundling of the services and a second phase that allows for a common service on one tech platform. In the same month, it was announced that Discovery will rename itself Warner Bros. Discovery and reclassify and convert its stock into stock of WBD. On December 22, 2021, it was announced that the transaction was approved by the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
and it is expected to be completed in mid-2022, subject to approval by Discovery shareholders and additional closing conditions. On January 5, 2022, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that WarnerMedia and Paramount Global (at the time known as ViacomCBS) were exploring a possible sale of either a majority stake or all of The CW, and that Nexstar Media Group (which became The CW's largest affiliate group when it acquired former The WB, WB co-owner Tribune Broadcasting in 2019) was considered a leading bidder. The news led to speculation that, should a sale take place, new ownership could steer the network in a new direction, transforming The CW from a young adult-oriented network into one that featured more unscripted and even national news programming. However, reports also indicated that WarnerMedia and ViacomCBS could include a contractual commitment that would require any new owner to buy new programming from those companies, allowing them to reap some continual revenue through the network. Network president/CEO Mark Pedowitz confirmed talks of a potential sale in a memo to CW staffers, but added that "It's too early to speculate what might happen" and that the network "must continue to do what we do best." On January 26, 2022, it was reported that the merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc. was expected to close sometime during the second quarter of 2022. This was later narrowed down to mid-April 2022. On February 1, 2022, it was reported that AT&T had elected to structure the merger as a spin-off of WarnerMedia, followed by a merger with Discovery Inc. to form the new company. The company had been contemplating structuring the transaction as a Equity carve-out, split-off (under which AT&T shareholders would be given the option as to whether to exchange their shares for those of the new company, rather than receive them pro rata). On February 7, the merger was approved by the Brazilian antitrust regulator Administrative Council for Economic Defense, Cade. It was approved by the United States Department of Justice two days later. The transaction was approved by Discovery shareholders on March 11, and formally completed on April 8, 2022.


Institutional ownership

Prior to September 18, 2008, DCI's ownership consisted of three shareholders: * Discovery Holding Company * Advance/Newhouse Communications, which is owned with Advance Publications * John S. Hendricks, the company's founder. On September 17, 2008, Discovery Holding Company completed a restructuring plan. Discovery Holding's Ascent Media business was Corporate spin-off, spun off, and the remaining businesses, Discovery Communications, LLC and Advance/Newhouse Communications, were combined into a new holding company, Discovery Communications, Inc. The new fully public company and trades on the NASDAQ stock market under the symbols DISCA, DISCB, and DISCK. SEC filings are submitted by the Discovery Holding Company. In May 2014, the company announced a special dividend of shares of the company's Series C common stock payable to holders of record of the company's Series A common stock, Series B common stock and Series C common stock as of the close of business on July 28, 2014. As a result of the dividend, each holder of a share of the company's Series A common stock, Series B common stock or Series C common stock will receive one additional share of the company's Series C common stock on or about August 6, 2014. Liberty Global and Discovery Communications paid approximately $195 million for a 3.4% stake in Lionsgate, Lionsgate Entertainment in November 2015. Discovery CEO David Zaslav joined the Lionsgate board of directors as part of the acquisition.


Divisions

DCI operated its businesses in the following groups: U.S. Networks, International, Digital, Discovery Studios, Lifestyle Studios, and Discovery Global Enterprises.


U.S. channels

There were 19 channels owned and operated by Discovery Networks U.S.


Canada

Discovery Networks also had a stake of some networks operated by CTV Speciality Television Inc., a joint venture between Bell Media and ESPN Inc. such as Discovery (Canadian TV channel), Discovery and Animal Planet (Canada), Animal Planet.


Discovery Networks International

Discovery Networks International had three regional operations: Discovery Asia-Pacific, Asia Pacific, Discovery EMEA, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Discovery Latin America, Latin America, with regional headquarters in Singapore, Amsterdam, London, Milan, Warsaw and Miami.


Asia-Pacific

As part of its acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive in 2018, Discovery added Asian Food Network (which SNI had acquired from the co-founders Hian Goh and Maria Brown in 2013) to its Asian portfolio. On September 7, 2020, MediaWorks New Zealand Limited announced that Discovery would be purchasing the television arm of their business including Three (TV channel), Three, Bravo (New Zealand), Bravo, The Edge TV, Breeze TV, streaming service ThreeNow, and current affairs service Newshub. MediaWorks said in a statement that the transaction was subject to “a number of pre-completion approvals” but was expected to completed by the end of the year. . The sale was finalised in December 2020, with the new entity being rebranded as Discovery New Zealand. On 27 April 2021, Discovery Inc. confirmed that it would be restructuring its business operations in Australia and New Zealand with the goal of incorporating Three, Bravo and Newshub into a single trans-Tasman organisation. Discovery also announced that this new trans-Tasman organisation would be headed by two general managers, the Sydney–based Rebecca Kent and Glen Kyne in Auckland. Discovery had also separately acquired MediaWorks' TopTV operations in 2019. In mid-May 2021, Newshub closed its Dunedin office as part of a restructuring of Discovery's business operations in Australia and New Zealand. Following the closure of the Dunedin newsroom, the network's South Island operations will consist of its Christchurch–based bureau and freelancers.


EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa)

On November 27, 2012, Discovery announced it would acquire Dubai-based broadcaster Takhayal Entertainment, which owns MENA lifestyle channel Fatafeat. This acquisition was then completed. On December 21, 2012, Discovery announced it had acquired a 20% stake in the pan-European sports broadcaster
Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territories, ...
from TF1 Group for €170 million (US$221.6 million). On January 21, 2014, Discovery acquired an additional 51% share to gain controlling interest, and subsequently acquired the remainder for €491 million in July 2015 to receive sole ownership. In June 2015, Discovery acquired pan-European rights to the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
from 2018 through 2024, excluding Russia, on all platforms, in a €1.3 billion deal. Discovery will primarily broadcast the Games on local outlets (including Eurosport), but will sub-license coverage to over-the-air broadcasters in each region. In August 2016, Discovery renewed its distribution deals in 12 countries with shareholder Liberty Global. On January 31, 2017, after nearly facing a carriage dispute, Discovery renewed its distribution deals in Germany and the United Kingdom with Sky plc. In November 2016, Discovery partnered with the streaming media company BAMTech to create a joint venture to serve Europe. In May 2017, ProSiebenSat.1 Media and Discovery announced a joint venture to create a German over-the-top content service, built upon its existing 7TV service. In August 2017, Discovery announced that it would acquire the remaining 51.06% of Green Content, the operator of the Polish DTT channel Metro (Poland), Metro, from Agora SA for PLN19,000,000 under a share buyback agreement. Through its purchase of SNI, Discovery added the Polish broadcaster TVN Group to its European portfolio, which SNI had acquired in 2015 from ITI Group and Groupe Canal+, Canal+ Group., as well as the
UKTV UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through ...
joint venture with BBC Worldwide (later
BBC Studios BBC Studios is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Worldwide. ...
). On July 3, 2020, Discovery agreed to acquire the German free-to-air station Tele 5 from Leonine Holding. In December 2020, the Discovery-backed GB News received a licence from Ofcom to broadcast on their service on various British platforms, such as Freeview (UK), Freeview, in 2021. GB News was set up by Andrew Cole and Mark Schneider from Liberty Global. In March 2021, Discovery was made available to beIN Media Group subscribers in the Middle East and North Africa. The two organizations have worked together since 2016, but this is the first time that Discovery Channel itself has been made available.


Latin America

In June 2016, Discovery acquired a 27.5% stake in Bethia Comunicaciones S.A., a division of Chilean conglomerate Bethia that owns Red Televisiva Megavisión S.A., a company which in turn owns both the private television network Mega (Chilean television channel), Mega and a 70% stake in the anime-, Korean drama- and K-pop-focused cable television channel ETC (Chilean TV network), ETC (which is co-owned with its creator, who is businessman and television executive Hernán Schmidt Fuentes). As a result, Bethia now owns 72.5% of the company. Redknot, a joint venture with Nelvana, launched on February 12, 2019.


Brands and assets


2010 hostage crisis

On September 1, 2010, the Discovery headquarters were the site of a hostage taking; a lone gunman identified as James J. Lee (c. 1967 – September 1, 2010), armed with two Starting pistol, starter pistols and an Improvised explosive device, explosive device, took three people hostage crisis, hostage inside of the Discovery Communications headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, prompting an evacuation of the building. Lee's motive was believed to have been grounded in environmental activism. Lee had previously been arrested in 2008 while protesting in front of the same site. The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland has since labeled the crime a Terrorism in the United States, terrorist attack. The incident began at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, ET, when the 43-year-old Lee entered the building with two starter pistols and fired a single round at the ceiling of the lobby. The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) confirmed that Lee had an explosive device and was holding three people hostage in the lobby. The building was placed on lockdown and most of the 1,500 employees were evacuated. Children from a day care center inside were safely removed to a nearby McDonald's restaurant on Colesville Rd. Lee was shot and killed by an MCPD SWAT team at 4:48 p.m. ET after the hostages made a run to escape. The remaining hostages were immediately freed. The incident was described by the FBI as the first instance of a would-be suicide bomber taking hostages in the United States. Lee was an environmental protester who, in 2008, was given six months of United States federal probation and supervised release, supervised probation and fined $500 after he was arrested during a protest outside the Discovery Communications headquarters. Lee had published criticisms of the network in an online manifesto at Savetheplanetprotest.com, among which was a demand for the company to cease the broadcasting of television series displaying or encouraging the birth of "Antinatalism, parasitic human infants and the false heroics behind those actions". His manifesto also railed against "immigration pollution and anchor baby filth", leading commentators such as Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center to decry Lee as an "eco-fascist". Lee's opinions were dominated by Thomas Robert Malthus, Malthusian analysis, though he also cited works ranging from Daniel Quinn's novel ''My Ishmael'' to former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's documentary ''An Inconvenient Truth''. ''The Washington Post'' credited the Twitter community for initially breaking the story.


See also

* A&E Networks * National Geographic Partners * Smithsonian Channel, Smithsonian Affiliations


References


External links

* {{Authority control, state=expanded Discovery, Inc., Mass media companies of the United States Mass media companies based in New York City Advance Publications American companies established in 1985 Mass media companies established in 1985 Entertainment companies established in 1985 1985 establishments in New York City Conglomerate companies established in 1985 Entertainment companies of the United States Entertainment companies based in New York City Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Multinational companies headquartered in the United States 2022 mergers and acquisitions Defunct mass media companies of the United States Defunct companies based in New York City American companies disestablished in 2022 Entertainment companies disestablished in 2022 Mass media companies disestablished in 2022 Predecessors of Warner Bros. Discovery