Discovery goes dark

Discovery Communications held an Upfront event in NYC on Tuesday, and it was good news all around. “As a company, we’re showing some tremendous growth and momentum,” said president and CEO David Zaslav. “Our channels have grown in a meaningful way, our channels are on brand, and we’re doing a great job monetizing our content around the world.”

Discovery Channel finished 2016 as cable’s #1 non-sports network in Men 25-54 with more Top 10 unscripted cable series than any other network. Highlights of the programming slate for the 2017-18 season include 20 returning shows and 18 new shows. Among the newcomers is Darkness (survivalists sans light) and House of Cars (wt), while Emmy Award-winning hit Cash Cab will be returning, with unsuspecting passengers ambushed by celebrities. Marking NASA’s 60th anniversary will be documentary, NASA: 60 Years and Beyond. New scripted anthology series Manhunt: Unabomber, tracking how FBI agent Jim “Fitz” Fitzgerald brought down Ted Kaczynski, premieres with a two-hour episode on Tuesday, August 1 at 9p. And Shark Week will get an assist this summer from none other than Olympic swimming champ Michael Phelps.

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