Thursday, Mar 25, 2010

Gulf News

Dubai Twenty-five years after the Discovery Channel was launched in the United States, Discovery Networks has become an international cable television channel with 1.5 billion subscribers in 170 countries. Gulf News talks to Paul Welling, Vice-President of Channels of Emerging Markets at Discovery Networks, about how the channel has gone global.

Gulf News: Can you give us an overview on how the Discovery Channel first started?

Paul Welling: The business started in 1985 by a guy called John Hendricks who really had a vision to create an entertainment channel which was about learning. It started as his vision in the United States and it rolled out over the subsequent 25 years across the world to the UK, Latin America, Asia and throughout Europe, to the Middle East and Africa as well.

Discovery Channel is still the lead brand, but it is joined by other brands as we looked to segment the audience a bit more. Internationally we've launched Discovery World, Discovery Science, Animal Planet and then recently Discovery HD showcase and Investigation Discovery to create a bouquet of channels.

What has been behind this growth throughout the years?

Most people are inquisitive or curious and that's what Discovery the company and the channel stand for — that quest for knowledge, that quest to better ourselves. So as the channel launched in America, there was a realisation that the word "discovery" and what Discovery stands for is common to everyone around the world.

Who's your target audience?

Our networks aren't necessarily just male networks, but I think it's important for any brand to have a heart. You can't say that this channel is for everyone. You have to have somebody in mind when you think about it. For Discovery Channel, that heart and that target is young men.

How do you keep the audience engaged?

Our content has changed over time. Twenty-five years ago we were a documentary channel with a voice over the top of it. What we've done in the last few years we've introduced more characters and personalities onto the channel. What those characters do is bring those stories to life.

People come to Discovery Channel firstly and most importantly to be entertained but then when they get there we give them knowledge and we give them facts and insights underneath that. So if I spend an hour with Discovery Channel it is better spent than if I spend an hour watching a soap or a game show.

How do audiences differ around the world? Are people as curious?

There are differences across the territories. In the US they have a lot of channels. The people have a short attention span and the programming tends to be very quick with a lot of ad breaks. So programmes are structured to keep people over the commercial breaks. That's different in the UK and in a lot of the emerging markets. If you go into Eastern Europe and Russia, there's a real hunger for knowledge and learning and people really want to take facts in great doses out of the programming. If you go out into Turkey and the Middle East, Africa and South Africa, there's this idea of sugar coating. People like the entertainment.

Young men typically in the Gulf have a lot going on. They have a social life; they have a lot of money. They don't need to learn to the same extent as Eastern Europeans do so they go to television for entertainment. The way we address that is we use the programming across the entire world, but we package it up differently.

Reality shows have become very popular in the last few years. How have the channels under the Discovery Networks been able to keep up with what's popular?

Television, like many other areas, follows trends. The Deadliest Catch is a very good example of what we call a male soap. It's about crab fishermen in the Bering Sea which is completely irrelevant to you here in the Middle East. But it's intriguing because it's thousands of miles away. It is the most dangerous job in the world. It's the most highly paid job in the world and the people who do it are the most amazing characters. So like a soap opera might appeal to a housewife, this appeals to the young man. It's like our own brand of reality show.

What's next for Discovery Networks in the Middle East?

We've just recently launched Discovery HD in February and ID in March. ID is Investigation Discovery which is a crime-based channel and again based on facts, so there's no fictional or scripted content.

Discovery HD Showcase is a blend of the best of HD content from Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Discovery Science, the Learning Channel and all the HD brands we have around the world, all packaged in one programme.

By Samia Badih

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