Upfront News and Views: Discovery Showcases Its Expanded Portfolio

Venue amp160Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center on the corner of Broadway and W 65th St In a bow to SNI which used this place as their New York Upfront locale the last few years various Discovery network logos were displayed on the outside glass walls facing Broadway along with the declaration amp8220Meet the New Discoveryamp8221 amp160In another touch spaces around the front lobby were set aside for individual networks to handle talent meetandgreets and photo opportunities after the presentationamp160 Inside the hall Discovery logos were displayed on either side of the stage and on the back screen while every attendee found a shark pillow on their seat in honor of Shark Weekamp8217s 30th anniversary this July amp160Cocktails and appetizers were served preshow followed by a postshow round of food and drink amp160Grade 45 JacksPresentation amp160With quick precision Discovery President and Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav and Chief US Advertising Sales Officer Jon Steinlauf coming over from SNI delivered the key talking pointsFirst with channels like HGTV and Food Network on board amp8220Weamp8217re king of the hill in reallife unscripted TV that sponsors can trustamp8221 Zaslav notedamp160 amp8220Weamp8217re a different kind of media company amp160We donamp8217t have viewers we have fansamp160 Thereamp8217s no better safer quality environment to place your ads onamp8221Second if advertisers want viewers who see their messages live the moment they run amp8220Youamp8217ll hit the jackpot hereamp8221 Steinlauf added amp160amp8220Ninetyseven percent of Discoveryplaced ads are watched liveamp160 Our audiences not only expect to see commercials they welcome them because they are seen as resources to their lives not as interruptionsamp8221Segments devoted to individual networks were just as rapidfire summarizing returning and new series with a combo of short speeches and videosamp160 Remember when Discoveryamp8217s previous efforts were marathons running more than two hours amp160Not this timeamp160 The running time was 1 amp189 hoursamp160 Grade 45 Jacks for the overall approach 5 Jacks for the videosNews amp160Velocity Discoveryamp8217s service about the auto world will become Motor Trend Network this fall incorporating more content from Motor Trendamp8217s magazine lineup and digital service amp160Prior to that conversion the channel will offer live flagtoflag coverage June 1617 of the 24 Hours of Le Mansamp160amp160All told Discovery will presentamp160more than 8000 hours of new programming during the 201819 season including Valley of the Kings and Undercover Billionaire Discovery Channel Home Suite Home HGTV Our Wild Life TLC In Pursuit with John Walsh ID Investigation Discovery The Irwins Animal Planet The Innovators Science Channel and Hunting Evidence Travel Channelamp160 Destination America American Heroes Channel and Great American Country were absent from this news flow as was OWN though Oprah Winfrey did appear in an opening video introducing Zaslavamp160amp160Grade 45 JacksHosts amp160Zaslav and Steinlauf were solid delivering their remarks along with Chief Lifestyle Brands Officer Kathleen Finch DiscoveryFactual Chief Brand Officer Nancy Daniels Animal Planet Global President Susanna Dinnage and Group President for ID Destination America and American Heroes Channel Henry Schleiff amp160Zaslav gets extra credit for coming on stage with a blue sweater white pants and no jacket and making his casual fashion statement work see front row in photo at top amp160Grade 4 JacksStar Time amp160Taking cues from both broadcast network Upfronts and Broadway curtain calls more than 70 personalities from Discovery and SNI grouped by network came on stage at the end clapping to amp8220This Is Meamp8221 the Oscarnominated song from The Greatest Showmanamp160 It only took a few seconds for many audience members to clap along amp160Everyone on stage was in high spiritsamp160 The crowd responded with a rousing ovationamp160 What a moment amp160Grade 5 JacksCuisine amp160Outstanding selection one of the best at any Upfront so far this season amp160Best eats shrimp wontons with sweet lemongrass chili sauce Korean beef empanadas with chipotle dressing veggie sticks with orange lentil dip mojo marinated pork sandwiches and sweet potato fries amp160Worst eats steak slices that looked too rare in the middle amp160Grade 45 Jacks Note Cuisine ratings do not figure in the overall Jacks scoreData Insight amp160Discoveryamp8217s collection of channels reaches 20 percent of all adults 2554 watching cable throughout the day and five networks maintain a 20 percent share of female viewers amp160A new Nielsen study on environment and advertiser impact concluded that Discoveryamp8217s services have a 96 percent advantage as an engaging viewer landscape over sports news and general entertainment content Grade 35 JacksInnovative Opportunity amp160Multiplatform ad campaigns involving linear digital and print when Velocity turns into Motor Trend Network amp160Grade 3 JacksOverall Grade 45 Jacks amp160A powerful event in many respects from a wellutilized venue to welltimed and paced contentamp160 The video montages also contributed to the overall appealOur Jacks rating systemamp160 5 Jacks amp8211 Excellent 4 Jacks Very Good 3 Jacks Good 2 Jacks amp8211 Fair 1 Jack amp8211 Poor 0 Jacks Donamp8217t go thereClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160amp160

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Upfront News and Views: Discovery Showcases Its Expanded Portfolio

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Simon Applebaum

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Upfront News and Views: Discovery Showcases Its Expanded Portfolio

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