Discovery: Exploring New Territory

Discovery Channel celebrates its fifth birthday Sunday with an added milestone: The cable network specializing in nature, science, history and informational programming has hit 50.3 million subscribers.

“We just broke a record!” said John Hendricks, founder and chief executive officer of the Cable Educational Network, which operates Discovery. “We are the only network ever that has reached 50 million homes by our fifth anniversary. Who would have thought it? I can remember when I was trying to raise money to start this thing I heard every reason in the world why it wouldn’t work.”

Eight years ago, Hendricks came up with the idea for Discovery and spent the next 18 months trying to arrange financing. It was far from easy.

“You might remember the (early ‘80s) CBS Walter Cronkite series, ‘Universe,’ ” Hendricks said. “The cancellation was poor timing for me because it was exactly the type of programming I saw as a format for the channel. A lot of venture capitalists said if it was such a good idea why did CBS cancel it?”

Hendricks decided to ask the anchorman, who told him the series got good ratings for its time, Tuesdays at 8 p.m., and it drew viewers who didn’t watch regular TV. But when “Universe” ended, the audience turned CBS off.

Cronkite told Hendricks he believed an entire network devoted to documentaries and specials was viable. “Cronkite wrote me a nice letter and invited me to share it with anyone who doubted me that it could work. With that kind of endorsement, plus a lot of others who thought it would work, I was able to put this thing on,” he said.

Hendricks was able to scrape together $4 million. “Anyone who knew anything about TV stayed away,” he said. “I think one of the secrets of my success is that I didn’t know all the reasons why this wouldn’t work.”

Discovery was launched in June, 1985 with 156,000 subscribers. Within six months it was in 4 million homes. Then the money ran out, but several communication companies came to the rescue with $20 million.

Discovery, now on the air 18 hours a day, originated with a 12-hour-a-day schedule of shows bought from Britain and Canada. “It was me going to the BBC and TV Ontario and to independent producers,” said Hendricks. “There was a wealth of documentaries out there, so we had enough product.”

Two years later, Discovery ventured into its first co-production with the BBC--”Red Sea Live.”

The channel has made a mark with innovative programming. While ABC was airing “Amerika” in 1987, Discovery counter-programmed the miniseries with 66 hours of Soviet TV, ranging from exercise shows to rock videos to game shows. Discovery received the Golden Ace Award for the coverage. During the Reagan-Gorbachev summit in 1988, Discovery aired five telecasts of “Vyrema,” the Soviet evening news.

Today the channel has a lofty yet admirable goal: “I think our bread and butter is helping people understand, if you will, the majesty and wonder of the world,” said Greg Moyer, senior vice president. “We also feel very strongly the need to sensitize and help people understand how complex our environmental issues are today. We have made a 10-year commitment to showcase environmental issues.

“I think Discovery is looking for a way through TV to let people understand what is wondrous and complex about our world in ways that are entertaining and informative.”

Discovery’s environmental programming has included “Ivory Wars,” a documentary on the illegal poaching of elephants, and “Black Tide,” a look at the Exxon-Valdez oil spill off Alaska. Throughout June, the channel is airing documentaries on such endangered animals as the panda, the elephant and the whale.

Though best known for its nature shows, Moyer said, Discovery has more than feathers and fur. “We have been decreasing the amount of nature programming,” he said. “Next season, there will only be three hours of nature in prime time, down from six hours two years ago.”

Sprinkled among its wildlife shows this month: a six-part series on terrorism; “Hollywood Chronicles,” a look at the early days of movie-making hosted by veteran actor Jackie Cooper; and “World Monitor,” Discovery’s daily news magazine.

Hendricks has discovered two sure-fire ratings hits: “We can almost do anything about airplanes and about animals that can eat you,” he said. “In the summer when the ratings tend to be a little lower, we created ‘Shark Week.’ All our prime time was loaded with sharks and we got the highest ratings ever.”

“Shark Week II,” which aired last July, scored Discovery’s highest ratings yet-a 3.3 rating with a 5.5 share, which translates into roughly 1.46 million viewers. Such ratings would barely register on commercial TV’s Nielsen charts, but they make Hendricks smile.

Discovery is currently involved in co-productions with the BBC, CBC and Australian TV, and is seen in Canada, England, Scandanavia and Holland. A two-hour magazine version of Discovery is telecast weekly in Japan.

The channel is also expanding its program department by selling series overseas and releasing home video versions of the shows. Moyer said, “By doing all of those other things we can now afford to do more original TV.”

WHO WATCHES DISCOVERY?

“It varies,” said John Hendricks, chief executive at the cable channel. “They tend to be news viewers. The pleasant surprise is that the nature shows deliver an all-family audience from 6 to 60. That has been a good surprise.”

“Safari Live! Africa Watch,” which was telecast from Kenya’s Masai Mara Game Reserve last September, is an example of the nature shows aimed for families. The week-long special concluded with “Student Safari,” which provided a live audio and video line between students in a Washington, D.C., television studio and Africa wildlife experts in Kenya.