Discovery Channel - Discovering India
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Details
Themes : Differentiation
Period : 1995-2003
Organization : Discovery Channel, Sony Entertainment Channel
Pub Date : 2003
Countries : India
Industry : Media and Entertainment
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Case Code : MKTG052
Case Length : 10 Pages
Price: Rs. 300;
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Background
In 1985, Cable Educational Network Inc., founded by John Hendricks, launched Discovery channel in USA. Due to the increasing popularity of the channel, United Cable Television Corp., Cox Cable Communications Inc., and Tele-Communications Inc., invested in the company in 1986. In its first year of operations itself, the channel's subscription increased to seven million in the US. Discovery offered non-fiction programs that gave quality insights into matters related to history, science, adventure, nature, civilization etc.
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In 1987, Discovery entered into an agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation6 to telecast Discovery programs in Japan. In 1990, Discovery launched television's first interactive video7 - The Discovery Interactive Library. In the following year, Cable Educational Network Inc's name was changed to Discovery Communications, Inc (DCI). |
In the same year it announced the launch of new channel - Animal Planet - in the US, which aired programs based on animals and the environments in which they lived. Discovery also announced the launch of Discovery Kids programs, which would be aired once a week. By the end of 1996, Discovery's subscription increased to 101.4 million households around the world.
And by 1997, according to Total Research's EquiTrend study,8 Discovery was the number 1 media brand surpassing even the National Geographic Magazine9. In the same year it entered Turkey through a partnership agreement with The Media Group. In March 1997, DCI entered into a joint venture with British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)10 to launch BBC America.
Discovery was the first network to target channels at different viewer segments to increase viewership and cater to the viewing needs of different viewers. To suit the needs of different viewers, Discovery offered The Science Channel, Discovery Civilization Channel, Discovery Home & Leisure Channel, Discovery Wings Channel and Discovery En Espanol (Refer Table I for the profile of these channels).
By 2002, Discovery channel became the world's most widely distributed television brand. Discovery channel was aired in over 155 countries and had around 700 million subscribers (Refer Table II for its Global Presence). The 14 entertainment brands of DCI were distributed through 33 networks in around 33 languages all over the globe (Refer Table III).
6] Mitsubishi Corporation, a Japanese company, has a very diverse business portfolio. It has got a presence in Energy, Metals, Machinery, Chemicals and Living essentials.
7] A video application is interactive if the user influences the flow of the video and that influence, in turn, affects the user's future choices. This means that the application does not simply feed the user clips of video while the user sits idly by and watches what is presented. While the video is being presented, the user must be provided an opportunity to give the program that controls the video input that would determine what would be shown next. Furthermore, the choice of video shown, based on the user's input, must affect the user’s future choices.
8] Total Research Corporation conducts EquiTrend Research to measure the brand equity of brands across various categories.
9] The National Geographic Society publishes the National Geographic Magazine. National geographic Magazine was one of the most popular media brands across the world.
10] Established in 1922, BBC is considered one of the pioneers in news broadcasting.