Discovery to Invest in Web Venture
Discovery Communications Inc., owner of the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet cable channels, said it will invest $500 million over three years in a newly formed Internet company and may eventually sell shares in the business to the public.
Closely held Discovery is 49%-owned by Liberty Media Group, the programming arm of AT&T; Corp. controlled by cable veteran John Malone. The new company, to be called Discovery.com, will include new and existing Web sites, as well as a venture that will offer interactive TV through high-speed Internet delivery.
Discovery aims to make money through electronic commerce and advertising, and hopes to transform Discovery.com into a general-interest portal from its base of existing science, health, history and nature Web sites. It will use its 23 cable networks, with 165 million viewers worldwide, as a base.
The goal of creating a wide-reaching Internet directory pits Discovery against companies such as Yahoo Inc. and America Online Inc. Last week, Walt Disney Co., the world’s No. 2 entertainment company, scaled back plans for its Go.com Internet directory.
John Hendricks, Discovery’s founder, chairman and chief executive, said he’s not worried.
“If you are a conglomerate, like a Disney . . . it’s very difficult to create a singular brand,” said Hendricks, who also will be chairman and chief executive of Discovery.com. “Our brand is very cohesive.”
Bethesda, Md.-based Discovery’s other holdings include the Travel Channel, the Learning Channel and the Discovery Health Channel. Discovery.com will be based in Silver Spring, Md., where Discovery is moving its headquarters.
