Discovery, Inc.
Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1982, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Science Channel, and TLC. In 2018, the company acquired Scripps Networks Interactive, adding networks such as Food Network, HGTV, and Travel Channel to its portfolio. Since the purchase, Discovery described itself as serving members of "passionate" audiences, and also placed a 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, GolfTV, Discovery Communications Nordic, 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 announced its proposal to merge its media subsidiary WarnerMedia with Discovery, Inc. The transaction was approved by the European Commission in December 2021 and was completed on April 8, 2022, forming Warner Bros. Discovery.
History
The company was established in 1982 in Landover, Maryland, as the Cable Educational Network. Its namesake and flagship brand, Discovery Channel, first launched on June 17, 1985. In 1991, Discovery Channel's owners acquired The Learning Channel. Three years later, Cable Educational Network was renamed Discovery Communications.In October 1996, Discovery launched several new spin-off networks, including Animal Planet, and the digital cable channels Discovery Kids, Discovery Travel & Living, Discovery Civilization, and Science Channel. This was followed by the 1997 purchase of a 70% stake in Travel Channel, and the 1998 launches of Discovery en Español, Discovery Wings, and Discovery Health Channel. 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. In 2002, Discovery relaunched Discovery Civilization as Discovery Times, as part of a joint venture with The New York Times. 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 Jeremy Cowdrey, former CEO of Imagine Learning. In 2019, Discovery Communications moved its headquarters to New York City, keeping 300 employees in a smaller hub in Silver Spring.
Zaslav era
Former NBCUniversal executive David Zaslav 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, a network devoted primarily to environmentalism and sustainable living.
In 2007, according to Crunchbase, TreeHugger was acquired by Discovery Communications on August 1, 2007, for $10 million. In 2012, Mother Nature Network, founded by Joel Babbit and Chuck Leavell acquired TreeHugger.
On January 15, 2008, Discovery announced that it had entered into a joint venture with Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions to relaunch Discovery Health as a new service, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, in 2009. In 2008, Discovery Times was relaunched as Investigation Discovery, a new brand that would be dedicated to true crime 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 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 for patent infringement by its Kindle e-reader line, regarding "secure distribution of electronic text and graphics to subscribers and secure storage". The patents were originally developed by Discovery founder John Hendricks, who had been developing technologies related to e-books 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, 2011, due to the wider implementation of high-definition feeds for mainstream cable channels, HD Theater was relaunched as Velocity, a new "upscale male" network focusing on automotive programming. On May 26, 2012, Planet Green was relaunched as Destination America.
In January 2014, Discovery launched Curiosity, a website that aggregates online education 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 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. During the same month of that year, Discovery Communications 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. In November 2014, Curiosity was spun out as a venture-funded startup, receiving $6 million in funding.
In November 2015, Discovery Communications and Liberty Global paid approximately $195 million for a 3.4% stake in Lionsgate Entertainment with Discovery CEO David Zaslav joining the Lionsgate board of directors as part of the acquisition. In December 2015, Discovery launched Discovery Go, a TV Everywhere 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 content in China, and to offer their own resources to VS.
In October 2016, Discovery purchased a minority stake in Group Nine Media, a digital media holding company consisting of Thrillist Media Group, NowThis, 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, HGTV, and DIY Network, 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, but planned to move its corporate headquarters from Silver Spring, Maryland, where it had operated since 2003, to New York City in 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, and a revival of TLC's While You Were Out 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, and that Velocity would be re-branded as an extension of its namesake magazine Motor Trend.
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.