Discovery Communications

Discovery Communications said it would realign executive oversight of several of its cable networks, in a move it said would group the outlets together by theme. And it broadened the number of networks being supervised by three top managers: Eileen O’Neill, Marjorie Kaplan and Henry Schleiff.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that John Malone agreed to give the chief executives of Discovery Communications Inc. and Liberty Global PLC the right of first refusal to acquire his voting stakes in those companies. WSJ subscribers can read the full story here.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Discovery Communications and Scripps Networks Interactive abandoned talks about a merger last week, ending the possibility that two big providers of nonfiction cable programming would combine. The discussions hadn’t advanced beyond the early, exploratory stage, the people said, and Discovery hadn’t made a formal offer for Scripps. WSJ subscribers can read the full story here.

More stock options, more years for the unscripted svengali. “David has done a superb job,” said Liberty Media’s John Malone, chairman of Discovery’s board of directors. “He built a strong management team that has expanded the company’s reach and relevance, increased its market share domestically and around the world, and created a bigger, stronger portfolio of brands.”

Shares of the Food Network’s parent company were a much sought-after dish Wednesday after a report that Discovery Communications was discussing acquiring the menu-making cable programmer. Scripps Networks Interactive stock spiked 7.6% to $81, in heavy trading as investors looked to get in on what could be a super-premium bid.

Discovery Communications is considering a bid for Scripps Networks Interactive, parent company of Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel and other lifestyle-oriented cablers. A source with knowledge of the situation said the prospect of Discovery making a run at Scripps Networks was discussed Tuesday at a Discovery board meeting.

According to media buyers, the Discovery networks (a collective that includes the flagship channel, as well as TLC, Animal Planet and Investigation Discovery) enjoyed another profitable upfront, booking CPM increases between 6% and 8% while boosting dollar volume by 5%.

Discovery Communications is at work on an Internet streaming service that could charge cable subscribers a small fee to gain access to hours of documentaries and reality shows, executive chairman and founder John Hendricks said Tuesday.

Discovery Communications today is launching its first online video network, with original series available free, hoping to capture younger viewers harder to reach through traditional TV. The new online network dubbed TestTube will run 15 original online shows, available free on platforms like YouTube, Xbox and its own website.

Improved ratings at OWN has Sanford C. Bernstein media analyst Todd Juenger bullish on Discovery Communications, which co-owns the cable channel with Oprah Winfrey. In a Monday report, Juenger raised his target price for Discovery shares to $76 and pointed to OWN and smaller Discovery networks including Animal Planet, ID and Science as key reasons. Ratings for those networks are up.

Although the goals were set independently, David Zaslav says that his joint venture with Oprah Winfrey is growing fast enough that it doesn’t have to expand to 85 million homes — from 80 million now — to fulfill his prediction that it will break even in the second half of 2013.

Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s optimistic forecast to analysts this morning is a slight improvement from three months ago when he said that his joint venture with Oprah Winfrey would merely begin to break even by late next year.

Randy Shiozaki of TVplus: “There’s a lot of noise in the social TV space, a lot. Many of these companies will disappear over the next year as leaders emerge in the space and capital dries up for these guys. The innovative ones will get acquired…. This is a defining year for social TV.”

The Oprah Winfrey Network could lose an estimated $142.9 million this year, which could prompt co-owner Discovery to pull the plug on the venture, research and investment firm SNL Kagan said Wednesday.

The cable network company’s latest digital pact will bring prior seasons of such shows as Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs, TLC’s Say Yes To The Dress and Animal Planet’s Whale Wars to the Prime Instant Videos subscription-based streaming video service.

The TV Guide Network, which is up for sale along with its companion site, is drawing interest from potential suitors Discovery Communications and CBS Corp. Lionsgate Entertainment owns the TV Guide channel, brand name and online property TVGuide.com, along with JPMorgan’s private-equity arm, One Equity Partners.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman is charged with extortion in an alleged plot to get Discovery Communications Inc. to cancel the TLC show “19 Kids and Counting” or […]

CEO David Zaslav brings in NBCU vet Andy Warren as CFO and eliminates the COO position held by Peter Ligouri.

Chiming in with what other senior TV executives have said recently, David Zaslav, president-CEO of Discovery Communications, says advertising sales are slowing. But overall, things are not trending down. Speaking at the UBS Media and Communications Conference, Zaslav says “there is a little bit of slowing in volume.”

DG, a provider of content management and distribution solutions for the advertising, entertainment and broadcast industries, and Discovery Communications, have created what the two call “the industry’s first completely digital […]

Discovery Communications’ Peter Liguori, responsible for overseeing the new OWN network, is departing the company by the end of the year. Discovery says the COO position will be eliminated.