Warner Bros. Discovery Networks

Warner Bros. Discovery Networks

Formerly	WarnerMedia Entertainment (2019–2020) WarnerMedia Studios & Networks (2020–2022)
Company type	Division
Industry	Media Entertainment
Predecessors	Discovery Networks U.S. (1996–2022) Turner Broadcasting System Scripps Networks Interactive
Founded	2019;5 years ago (2019)(original) 2022;2 years ago (2022)(Merger with Discovery Networks U.S.)
Headquarters	New York City, New York , U.S.
Area served	United States
Key people	Kathleen Finch (Chairwoman and CCO)
Services	Broadcasting Television
Parent	Warner Bros. Discovery
Website	wbd.com

Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, formerly known as WarnerMedia Entertainment and WarnerMedia Studios & Networks, ^[1] is an American mass media division of Warner Bros. Discovery that oversees the operations of many of its television channels and assets owned and operated in the United States. Its related international division is Warner Bros. Discovery International.

History

Discovery Networks U.S.

Discovery U.S. Networks logo

In October 1996, Discovery Networks after the launch of several networks, that include Animal Planet, and the digital cable channels Discovery Kids, Discovery Travel & Living, Discovery Civilization, and Science Channel, with two years later being followed by the 1997 purchase of a 70% stake in Travel Channel, and the 1998 launches of Discovery en Español, Discovery Wings, and Discovery Health Channel. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

On July 31, 2017, Discovery announced it would acquire Scripps Networks Interactive, owner of networks such as Food Network, HGTV, and DIY Network, for $14.6 billion, with Discovery's brands being reorganized under different executives chief brand officers: SNI's chief programmer Kathleen Finch became chief brand officer of Lifestyle, overseeing TLC, the six former Scripps channels, and Discovery's other lifestyle networks, with Rich Ross, who formerly served as group president of Discovery and Science, stepping down, and being replaced by TLC president Nancy Daniels as chief brand officer of Discovery & Factual. ^{[5] [6]}

WarnerMedia Studios & Networks

On March 4, 2019, AT&T would reorganize its broadcasting assets to effectively dissolve Turner Broadcasting System withs its assets moving to the newly created WarnerMedia Entertainment with the unit consisting of HBO, TBS, TNT, TruTV, and an upcoming direct-to-consumer video service with Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, and Turner Classic Movies would be moved under Warner Bros. Entertainment via the new "Global Kids & Young Adults" business unit. ^{[7] [8]}

On August 10, 2020, the WarnerMedia Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment television assets were merged to form WarnerMedia Studios & Networks Group with several of its units being reaorginazed in a major corporate revamp that resulted in TBS, TNT and TruTV being brought back under the same umbrella as Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, Boomerang and TCM with Casey Bloys—who was with WarnerMedia since 2004 (as director of development at HBO Independent Productions), being elevated to President of Programming at HBO and Cinemax in May 2016—added oversight of WarnerMedia's basic cable networks and HBO Max to his purview. ^{[9] [10]}

Merger as Warner Bros. Discovery Networks

On May 17, 2021, three years after the acquisition, AT&T decided to sell its ownership of WarnerMedia in a merger with Discovery, Inc. to form a new publicly traded company, Warner Bros. Discovery. On April 8, 2022, WarnerMedia was divested by AT&T and merged with Discovery, Inc. to form Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). All linear networks owned by the company, besides CNN, Turner Sports, HBO, and Magnolia Network, being overseen by Kathleen Finch as head of Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks. ^{[11] [12] [13]}

Channels list

Current channels

Channel	Group	Launch Date	U.S. Households as of Nov. 2023 [14]	Notes
Discovery Channel	Discovery & Factual	1985	71 million	Flagship network
Food Network	Lifestyle	1993	70 million	Acquired in Scripps merger in March 2018. 31% of the network is owned by Nexstar Media Group.
HGTV	Lifestyle	1994	72 million	Acquired in Scripps merger in March 2018.
TLC	Lifestyle	1972	71 million	Acquired by Discovery Communications in May 1991, previously known as The Learning Channel.
Animal Planet	Discovery & Factual	1996	70 million	Previously a joint venture with BBC Worldwide.
Travel Channel	Lifestyle	1987	67 million	Acquired in 1997, sold in 2007, re-acquired in Scripps merger in March 2018.
Turner Classic Movies	Movies	1994		Acquired in WarnerMedia merger in April 2022.
TruTV	Entertainment	1990	67 million	Formerly Court TV, Acquired in WarnerMedia merger in April 2022.
TBS	Entertainment	1967	69 million	Formerly WJRJ-TV, WTCG-TV, SuperStation WTBS, SuperStation TBS, & TBS Superstation, Acquired in WarnerMedia merger in April 2022.
TNT	Entertainment	1988	69 million	Formerly Turner Network Television, Acquired in WarnerMedia merger in April 2022.
Investigation Discovery	Discovery & Factual	1996	69 million	Formerly Discovery Civilization Network: The World History and Geography Channel, Discovery Civilization, & Discovery Times
Oprah Winfrey Network	Lifestyle	2011	60 million	Joint venture ownership with Harpo Productions, which holds a minority stake after Discovery acquired a controlling stake from Oprah Winfrey
Science Channel	Discovery & Factual	1996	37 million	Formerly Discovery Science Network, Discovery Science Channel, & The Science Channel
Discovery Family	Kids & Lifestyle	1996	28 million	Formerly Discovery Kids Channel, Discovery Kids, The Hub, & Hub Network 40% of the network is owned by Hasbro.
Cooking Channel	Lifestyle	2010	33 million	Formerly Fine Living Network. Acquired in Scripps merger in March 2018. 31% of the network is owned by Nexstar Media Group.
Cartoon Network	Kids	1992	66 million	Acquired in WarnerMedia merger in April 2022.
Boomerang	Kids	2000	26 million	Acquired in WarnerMedia merger in April 2022.
American Heroes Channel	Discovery & Factual	1998	28 million	Formerly Discovery Wings Channel, Military Channel
Destination America	Lifestyle	1996	23 million	Formerly Discovery Travel & Living Network, Discovery Home and Leisure, Discovery Home, and Planet Green
Discovery Life	Lifestyle	2011	24 million	Merger of Discovery Health Channel and FitTV, previously known as Discovery Fit & Health
Discovery en Español	Hispanic	1998	3 million	Spanish-language version of the Discovery Channel
Discovery Familia	Hispanic	2007	3 million	Merger between Discovery Travel & Living Viajar y Vivir and Discovery Kids en Español, Spanish-language version of Discovery Family
Hogar de HGTV	Hispanic	2020	1 million	Features original shows and dubbed shows from sister lifestyle channels

Former channels

• AT&T SportsNet - shut down on October 21, 2023 ^{[15] [16]}
  • AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh - sold to Fenway Sports Group
  • AT&T SportsNet Southwest - sold to a joint venture between the Houston Rockets and Houston Astros (50% stake)
  • AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain - ceased operations at the end of 2023
  • Root Sports Northwest (29% stake with Baseball Club of Seattle, LP) - had sold its stake to the Mariners in January 2024 ^[17]
• BET Holdings, Inc. - 15% with Robert L. Johnson, BET executives and shareholders, Taft Television & Radio Company and Liberty Media/Tele-Communications, Inc., sold its stake in 1996.
• Discovery Health Channel
• Discovery People
• Comedy Central (50% with Viacom) - sold its stake in 2003
• E! - stake acquired by Comcast and The Walt Disney Company in 1997.
• Game Show Network, LLC — 42% stake acquired by co-owner Sony Pictures Television in 2019.
• Great American Country - sold to GAC Media in 2021 and rebranded as GAC Family
• 3net - 3D television channel jointly owned with Sony and IMAX Corporation; operated from 2011 to 2014
• Motor Trend (moved under TNT Sports)
• Magnolia Network (moved under Home Box Office, Inc.)

References

1. "Businesses & Brands – Discovery, Inc". corporate.discovery.com. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
2. Parsons, Patrick (2008). Blue Skies: A History of Cable Television. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN   978-1592137060.
3. Kirchdoerffer, Ed (April 1, 1999). "Digital Play in the U.S. of A". Realscreen. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
4. "Discovery seeks 70% interest in Travel Channel Paxson Communications would get $20 million". Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on September 20, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
5. Szalai, Georg (July 31, 2017). "Discovery to Acquire Scripps Networks for $14.6 Billion". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
6. Hipes, Patrick (March 1, 2018). "Rich Ross Out At Discovery In Exec Shakeup; Scripps' Kathleen Finch Adds To Oversight". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
7. Feiner, Lauren (March 4, 2019). "WarnerMedia reorganizes its leadership team after AT&T acquisition". CNBC. Archived from the original on March 4, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
8. "AT&T to HBO, Turner: No More Fiefdoms". The Wall Street Journal. March 1, 2019. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
9. Hayes, Dade (August 10, 2020). "WarnerMedia Begins Layoffs In Latest Streamlining Effort". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
10. Goldberg, Lesley (August 7, 2020). "Bob Greenblatt, Kevin Reilly Out Amid Major WarnerMedia Restructuring". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
11. Andreeva, Nellie (April 9, 2022). "Chip & Joanna Gaines' Road From HGTV To HBO As 'Fixer Upper' Stars Switch Sides Post-WB/Discovery Merger". Deadline. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
12. Maas, Jennifer (April 8, 2022). "What Warner Bros. Discovery Looks Like on Day 1". Variety. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
13. Hayes, Dade (April 9, 2022). "Warner Bros Discovery Merger: Who's In, Who's Out In The Executive Ranks". Deadline. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
14. "Cable Network Coverage Area Household Universe Estimates: January 2016". Nielsen. Archived from the original on December 2, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
15. Keys, Matthew (August 4, 2023). "WBD affirms plan to exit regional sports business by end of year". The Desk. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
16. Lafayettepublished, Jon (August 3, 2023). "Warner Bros. Discovery Expects To Exit RSN Business by Year-End". Broadcasting Cable. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
17. "Mariners to take full control of ROOT Sports NW, clouding team's financial outlook". The Seattle Times. December 15, 2023. Retrieved December 21, 2023.