March 28
Discovery Communications

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 60thanniversary 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.

Investigation Discovery, the #1 ad-supported cable network for delivery of W25-54 year-to-date, boasting 33 consecutive quarters of primetime P2+ audience growth and #1 length of tune in the demo in total day in all of television, gave the greenlight to its first scripted limited series, The Von Bulow Affair (wt), and first scripted movies, Dating Game Killer and Final Vision. That’s on top of ID’s signature non-fiction crime series, which will include the debut of James Patterson’s Murder Is Forever. All in all, over 660 hours of premieres are planned for 2017.

2016 was the highest rated year in Science Channel history in all key demos. The net’s 2017-18 Upfront slate is highlighted by the new prank series hosted by Johnny Galecki, SciJinks (wt), as well as the return of MythBusters, starring the recent winners of MythBusters: The Search. Other new Science Channel programming highlights include series Life on the Line, specials Great American Eclipse, Silicon Valley, and Secrets of the Pyramids. Outlaw Tech, looking at how rogue science has transformed the underworld, debuts Wednesday, April 26 at 10p.

In 2016, TLC had 27 shows averaging 1.0M P2+ viewers or more and continues its momentum into 2017, up nearly 20% in primetime. In addition to returning favorites will be Hair Goddess (wt), a show about a working-class family in Staten Island who are building an empire, 90 Day Fiance spinoff series 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days, as well as an original digital spin-off series 90 Day Fiance: What Now? (wt) for TLCgo, the network’s TVE app. Social experiment Hear Me, Love Me, See Me (wt) takes physical attraction out of the equation, and energy shaman Charlie Goldsmith brings his gift to TLC in The Healer. Home renovations series Trading Spaces is returning, and three-hour global event Diana: Tragedy or Treason? (wt) will detail the theories behind Princess Diana’s death. Amazon channel “Say Yes” will feature 500 hours of memorable moments from the Say Yes franchise.

All-new Animal Planet series will include Animal House (wt), Cat Meets Dog (wt), Expedition Mungo, My Fat Pet and Rescue Dog to Super Dog (wt). In 2016, Animal Planet ranked #30 among cable networks in Adults 25-54. “We want Animal Planet to be the place where our super fans can be entertained, enlightened and excited about animals and by animals,” said net GM Patrice Andrews.

Velocity’s lineup includes the return of 13 hit franchises; several new series; 100 hours of live events; and interactive, multiplatform coverage of the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. In 2016, the auto-focused net had its #1 delivering year ever in Primetime and Total Day among the M25-54 target demo, as well as M18-49, M18+, P25-54, P18-34 and P2+.

OWN is adding two new docu-series to its Saturday night slate. Released, exec produced by Oprah Winfrey, chronicles the lives of men and women newly released from prison. Checking Inn follows former Essence Magazine EIC Monique Greenwood and her bed-and-breakfast business. “Over the past 4 years, it’s been a steady, positive trajectory,” said OWN president Erik Logan of ratings. “But the huge growth for OWN is how we’ve connected with the African-American marketplace…OWN is the number one network for African-American women in America.”

Overseas, Eurosport and Snap will partner around the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in South Korea with daily Live Stories and a Eurosport Channel dedicated to the Winter Olympics for Snapchat’s Discover platform. “Sports is really about storytelling,” said Zaslav. “We want people to know who the great stories are at the Olympics, so when it starts…people will know who to root for.”