brief history [1]
June 1985: John Hendricks, Founder and Chairman, launches Discovery Channel with 156,000 subscribers in the United States, the first program to air is Iceberg Alley.
April 1989: Discovery Networks International launches Discovery Channel in the United Kingdom.
September 1989: Discovery Channel airs its first original program, Ivory Wars.
May 1991:Discovery Communications acquires The Learning Channel (TLC).
January 1994:Discovery Channel launches in Asia.
February 1994:Discovery Channel launches in Latin America.
June 1996: Discovery Communications launches Animal Planet, the only channel dedicated to the relationship between people and animals.
June 1996: Discovery Communications acquires The Nature Company’s 114 retail stores and launches Discovery Channel Stores.
August 1996:Discovery Communications announces plans to launch five new digital networks: Discovery Science, Discovery Kids, Discovery Civilization, Discovery Home and Leisure and Discovery Wings.
November 1997: The Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership launches its first Learning Center in South Africa.
December 1997: Travel Channel acquired.
March 1998: Discovery Communications forms a global joint venture with the BBC.
June 1998: Discovery en Español launches, making it Discovery Communications’ first Spanish-language channel in the United States.
August 1999: Discovery Communications launches Discovery Health Channel.
March 2000:Discovery Channel breaks the all-time cable ratings record with the premiere of Raising the Mammoth.
April 2000:Discovery Channel’s Walking with Dinosaurs breaks the all-time cable ratings record set by Raising the Mammoth.
April 2000: Discovery Channel reaches 100 million subscribing households in 146 countries outside of the United States, bringing its worldwide count to 178 million.
October 2001: Discovery Channel becomes the world’s most widely distributed television brand, surpassing more than 400 million households reached worldwide.
April 2002: Discovery Communications and The New York Times Company form joint venture to launch the Discovery Times Channel (rebranded from Discovery Civilization).
June 2002: Discovery Communications launches Discovery HD Theater, one of the first 24-hour high definition channels.
October 2002: Discovery Kids and NBC partner to create a three-hour programming block, “Discovery Kids on NBC,” on Saturday mornings.
March 2004: Discovery Communications reaches one billion cumulative subscribers around the world.
March 2004: Discovery Communications creates fourth division, Discovery Education, the go-to source for the next generation of video-based learning
June 2005: Discovery Networks US Hispanic Group launches with two new channels to complement Discovery en Español – Discovery Kids en Español and Discovery Travel & Living (Viajar y Vivir).
January 2006: Discovery Communications announces the launch of the 100th and 101st Discovery networks with the launch of Discovery HD Japan and Discovery HD Canada.
REFERENCES
- ↑ Discovery Channel's HistoryfckLRhttp://corporate.discovery.com/our-company/company-timeline/