DEI Press Releases
DISCOVERY POISED TO INVIGORATE SALES OPPORTUNITIES WITH NEARLY 600 NEW HOURS OF ENTERTAINING AND ENGAGING HIGH-QUALITY PROGRAMMING
Depth and Breadth of Programming Library Brings the Real World to the Whole World
CANNES, October 4, 2009 – Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the world’s number one nonfiction media company, today announced that it is primed to stimulate sales opportunities with the international buying community at MIPCOM with nearly 600 hours of new releases that span entertainment, ob-doc and blue chip programming genres.
"With over 18,000 hours of the highest quality entertainment available spanning a stable of 26 network brands, Discovery is poised well to bring third party partners diverse programming that presents the world around us in new, fun and entertaining ways," said Nicolas Bonard, Senior Vice President, Discovery Enterprises International. "As one of the largest producers of television entertainment in the world, we communicate extraordinary stories in an exciting, passionate and truthful manner that resonates with global audiences."
Discovery is synonymous with entertaining high-quality original content, and its program sales catalogue is one of the most extensive in the industry. Covering an unmatched range of nonfiction genres including factual entertainment, animals and nature, science and engineering, crime and investigation, lifestyle, health and world affairs from across a wide portfolio of networks, including flagship Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, Planet Green, Investigation Discovery and more, Discovery captivates audiences with some of the most invigorating content in the industry. Key titles launching at MIPCOM this year include the following.
Entertainment
Discovery offers more than just classic blue-chip documentaries. Discovery is entertainment. Providing programming that appeals to the human emotion, stories connect and capture audiences around the world. Hit series Jon & Kate Plus 8 tells the tale of Jon and Kate Gosselin and the nonstop chaos they experience raising a set of twins and a set of sextuplets; LA Ink follows Kat Von D as she embarks on a solo career of opening her own tattoo shop in Los Angeles, having moved from Miami, and delves deep into stories behind her own success as well as those of her clients and their tattoos; and Cake Boss that features Buddy Valastro, one of the most successful and renowned cake artists in the United States, who heads a family-run Italian bakery in Hoboken, NJ. Cake Boss chronicles Buddy's over-arching desire to achieve his late father's dream of making Carlo's Bake Shop a household name with or without the help of his family.
Observational Documentary (Ob-doc)
One of Discovery’s more compelling genres delves into the lives of some of the most courageous and adventurous characters out there. Global hit series Deadliest Catch tells the tales of the rugged adventurers who fish in the Bering Sea, putting life and limb on the line while enduring 40-foot waves, hurricane winds, sleep deprivation and the operation of heavy machinery on a pitching deck, all in an honest days work. Bear Grylls goes to the most remote environments on the planet and puts himself in peril just to teach us how to survive in Man Vs. Wild/Born Survivor Critically acclaimed series Whale Wars follows Paul Watson and his team from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as they risk everything in the name of preserving whales and crippling the whaling trade industry. .
Blue Chip
And finally, at the crux of the Discovery brand, high-quality blue chip documentaries that traverse the globe, satisfying curiosity and captivating audiences. Groundbreaking series Discovery Atlas explores the mysteries, triumphs, and tribulations of the world, inviting audiences to experience vibrant countries and their extraordinary people as never before. Australia, Brazil, China, Italy, Mexico, India, France, Russia, South Africa, Egypt and Japan are all featured in the series.
Commemorating the first 50 years of NASA’s space exploration, When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions reveals in great detail the missions, the people and the triumphs of space exploration as experienced only by the astronauts themselves. As a key part of the series, Discovery Channel transferred priceless original mission footage from NASA’s own secret film vaults to high definition for the first time, making these national treasures available at unprecedented resolution for viewers now and for future generations of scholars and filmmakers.
Discovery Enterprises International focuses on maximizing sales opportunities with international third-party broadcasters and licensees by streamlining access to Discovery's worldwide brands and content. The Enterprises team partners with local clients through regional offices in London, Miami, Munich, Singapore, Sydney and Discovery's global headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, to analyze international markets in order to break down the programming needs of individual broadcasters within each territory.
Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the world’s number one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 170 countries. Discovery empowers people to explore their world and satisfy their curiosity through 100-plus worldwide networks, led by Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Discovery Science and Discovery HD, as well as leading consumer and educational products and services, and a diversified portfolio of digital media services including HowStuffWorks.com. Discovery Enterprises International, the company's international program sales and licensing arm, licenses programming and properties in multiple markets including the UK, Japan, France, Germany, China, India and Russia. For more information, please visit www.discoveryenterprisesinternational.com. Discovery Networks International distributes 18 international brands, reaching 946 million cumulative subscribers with programming available in 35 languages. For more information please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.