With more than 60 stars of the shows on its networks on the Avery Fisher Hall stage at the conclusion of its upfront event Tuesday, Discovery made the case that after acquiring Scripps Networks it has become a major force in the TV business.
Discovery CEO David Zaslav, introduced on tape by Oprah Winfrey, the company's biggest star, called the event a coming out party for the new enterprise.
We're a different kind of media company. We don't have viewers. We have fans, Zaslav told the audience.
While most other TV companies are caught up in an expensive scripted programming arms race against both traditional competitors and new digital interlopers, Discovery churns out unscripted shows designed to entertain, educate and inspire, he said.
We pretty much don't have actors, Zaslav said. We have authentic talent. He called Discovery's programming Functional content, adding that it is brought to life by the greatest characters in cooking, food, science, animals, home designs, travel and crime.
Close
That programming is drawing viewers. Zaslav pointed to statistics putting Discovery at No. 3 (behinds NBCUniversal and Disney) in share of total U.S. viewers.
The event was originally supposed to be one of Scripps Networks' series of upfront presentations. But instead of the half dozen talent on hand, Zaslav pumped up the volume, having everyone from the Property Brothers to the Pioneer Woman brought to New York.
In a bit of a surprise, the traditional Scripps Networks ad sales message seemed appropriate for the new bigger company.
Jon Steinlauf, the Scripps exec named to run the combined company's advertising sales operation, noted that while the increase in scripted programming has made this the era of peak TV, it's certainly not the era of peak ad viewing.
Steinlauf noted that while TV remains the most powerful marketing and branding tool, it is hard for marketers to reach their audiences live because of the way the dramas and comedies that aren't on ad-free services are time shifted by viewers.
The new Discovery offers 8,000 of new TV a year so there's fresh content on virtually every channel every night, he said. The payoff for you is 97% of your ads are watched live and they're seen by the most important consumers in all of advertising: upscale adults.
As he has in the past at Scripps upfronts, Steinlauf noted that viewers embrace commercials on the company's channels, pointing to research that shows that Scripps networks were No. 1 in ad receptivity followed by Discovery's channels at No. 2.
The way Scripps matches advertiser message to show content and the willingness to build programs specifically for marketers will be a feature of the new company as well.
The biggest laugh during the presentation came when Discovery Channel head Nancy Daniels introduced a new Science Channel show called The Innovators that will look at historic figures who started industries years ago and people changing those fields today. The audience started chuckling when the face of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg appeared. Many in the audience had seen Zuckerberg's Senate testimony earlier in the day. Daniels said she'd been following the testimony on her phone, so when the laughter arose, she knew what people were reacting to and ad-libbed that some of the people in the show may have changed our lives for better or worse.
Some other programming highlight included:
Kate Plus Eight star Kate Gosselin returns to TLC in Kate Plus Date (working title) as the single mom returns to the dating world.
Drew Scott of HGTV's Property Brothers comes to TLC as he makes wedding plans with fianc e Linda Phan in Drew and Linda Say I Do.
TLC has also acquired never-before-seen video from the 1996 wedding of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. The two hour special is titled JFK Jr. & Carolyn, A Camelot Wedding.
Investigation Discovery is adding In Pursuit With John Walsh, the longtime host of America's Most Wanted.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
08/05/2026
For the second straight year, Miri Technologies Inc. has been honored with a pair of coveted awards at the broadcast, media and entertainment industry's pre...
08/05/2026
Nine Alumni Nominated for Tony Awards More than 20 alumni contributed to this year's Tony-nominated productions.
May 7, 2026
By
Tori Donahue
Boston Co...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Liberty University on why broadcast technology isn't just a technical invest...
08/05/2026
COW Jobs: UGC, On-Camera Video Content
Brie Clayton May 7, 2026
0 Comments
UGC, On-Camera Video Content
April 17, 2026Documentary Editor - US,......
07/05/2026
Journalists reporting on Sudan are working in one of the most complex and fast-m...
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Seit dem Start im Jahr 2023 hat DJ (Beta) das personalisierte H rerlebnis von 94...
07/05/2026
Da quando stata presentata nel 2023, DJ (beta) ha aiutato a definire un'esperienza d'ascolto pi personalizzata per 94 milioni di utenti Spotify Premi...
07/05/2026
Since launching in 2023, DJ (beta) has helped shape a more personalized listenin...
07/05/2026
Desde o lan amento em 2023, o DJ (beta) j ajudou a deixar a experi ncia de ouvi...
07/05/2026
From our earliest days, Spotify has been built on a simple principle: Great audio should be easy to reach. It's what's driven us to expand from music to...
07/05/2026
Asian and Pacific Islander artists continue to shape the global soundscape, pushing creative boundaries and connecting with fans worldwide. This Asian & Pacific...
07/05/2026
Company announce long-requested choir instrument
In the latest expansion of their Symphonic Elements series, UJAM have introduced an all-new vocal instrumen...
07/05/2026
Modular-inspired sound generation with digital control
Buchla have introduced Ziggy, a new compact synthesizer built around the company's complex oscill...
07/05/2026
Combines analogue voices with digital synthesis and sequencing
Polyend have announced Drums, a new hybrid analogue and digital drum machine that combines sy...
07/05/2026
Control surface now officially supports four DAWs
When Nektar launched the Panorama CS12 control surface, it worked exclusively with Apple's Logic Pro, ...
07/05/2026
In the first quarter 2026, SGL Carbon generated consolidated sales of 184.5 million, which was 49.8 million, or 21.3%, lower than in the prior year (Q1 2025: ...
07/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Greenerwave achieve precise and fast ESA antenna characteriz...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
With more than 60 stars of the shows on its networks on the Avery Fisher Hall stage at the conclusion of its upfront event Tuesday, Discovery made the case that after acquiring Scripps Networks it has become a major force in the TV business.
