Discovery Performance/Schedule Analysis - October 2006
NETWORK OVERVIEW
NETWORK: Discovery Channel
NETWORK TAGLINE: "The World is Just Awesome"
DESCRIPTION OF NETWORK:
New Mission Statement: "TO ILLUSTRATE THE WORLD IN ALL ITS WONDER, DIVERSITY AND AMAZEMENT"; to "ignite viewers' curiosity."
It's all about "Awesome" these days, and things certainly have changed now that the John Ford era is officially underway. A new logo, a slogan for the first time in years and lots of variations on previous successful themes: exploration, how things work, adventure, tension and even a little "old school" slow motion take on life.
John's latest comment when the new logo and really cool campaign was introduced: "Over the past 23 years, Discovery has grown into a global icon "" a destination for exploration and learning (our underlining), and we wanted to showcase our earned place in the greater pop culture landscape."
Beyond that, need we say that Discovery brought the concept of a doc network to cable? These days, they define themselves as "the premier provider of real-world entertainment, offering a signature mix of compelling, high-end production values and vivid cinematography"¦"¦delivering knowledge about the world in an energizing way"¦."
GENRE(S) OF PROGRAMMING: Documentary, Reality, History, Crime, Science, Exploration, in their words: "in-depth, behind the scenes glimpses at the people, places and organizations that shape and share our world" .
TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC:Men 25-54
NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS: 99.0 million
PARENT COMPANY: Discovery Communications, LLC
SISTER NETWORKS:
Domestic: Animal Planet, TLC, Discovery Health (2009, it becomes OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network), Fit TV, Military Channel, Discovery Home (Planet Green), Discovery HD, Discovery Science, Investigation Discovery, Discovery Kids, BBC America, Discovery en Español, Discovery Kids en Español, Discovery Viajar y Vivir
International: Discovery International Networks: UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Europe, Germany, India, Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Middle East, Japan, Canada (with variations of USA networks in some territories), Discovery Civilisation, Discovery Wings, Discovery Geschichte, Discovery Travel + Living, Discovery Home + Health, Discovery Real Time, Discovery Turbo, People + Arts, Discovery Viajar y Vivir, Animal Planet International
CONTACT INFO:
Main Address: One Discovery Place, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Main Phone: 240-662-2000
In NY: 850 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022
Main Phone: 212-548-5555
In LA: 10100 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90067
Main Phone: 310-551-1611
President/GM: John Ford
COO and EVP: Tom Cosgrove
SVP, Development and Production: Gena McCarthy
SVP, Programming: Ken Schwab
VP, Development (SS): Liz Brach
VP, Development (NY), Beth Dietrich Segarra
VP, Development (LA) Elli Hakami
Director, Development (SS) Doug Bailey
Director, Development (LA) Wayne Sampson
PROGRAM SUBMISSION PROCESS:
If you have never worked with the network, it's necessary to start with their specially developed development website to submit a program: http://producers.discovery.com/esub/esub.nsf
Follow up by phone after 3-4 weeks. Pilot or presentation tape, as always, is necessary for talent or for a complicated concept. However, for many ideas they can give you an on-the-spot read, so one page can be better than a full-blown pilot that gets shot down. Best bet over the long term is to develop a relationship with one or more of the development contacts at the network. Many are open to in-person meetings or phone calls. Email is always a good way to communicate as well.
COMPETITION: Animal Planet, truTV, History, National Geographic, G4, Sci Fi, Spike.
NETWORK URL:http://dsc.discovery.com/
