Discovery and BBC Plan Programs, Cable Networks in U.S., Abroad

Discovery Communications Inc. and British Broadcasting Corp. are planning to spend $500 million in the next five years in co-productions and the launching of new cable networks in the U.S. and abroad, sources said Thursday.

The joint venture will include a new BBC cable network in the U.S. that will showcase BBC dramas and performing-arts programming. In addition, the two companies plan to launch a number of new cable networks, in Britain and other countries, that will draw on the Discovery library and the BBC library, which includes dramas, wildlife programs and documentary series.

The two companies--which already have collaborated on award-winning documentary series on Watergate and Bosnia--also plan to make a significant investment in new co-productions in several genres. In the U.S., these co-productions will air on the Discovery Channel, the Learning Channel and Discovery’s new Animal Planet channel as well as the planned drama and arts network.

Discovery Communications declined comment. But sources said shareholders will vote on the venture early next week. The four owners of the company are Liberty Media Corp., a division of Tele-Communications Inc., Cox Communications, Advance/Newhouse Communications and John S. Hendricks, founder, chairman and CEO of Discovery Communications.

The Discovery Channel reaches 69 million subscribers in the United States. The Learning Channel reaches 51 million subscribers.