Discovery Networks U.S. is moving through civilization to the present day
with the revamping of history digi-net Discovery Times Channel.
The channel, formerly called Discovery Civilization Channel, relaunches March
25 with a new focus on current events and recent history, and it will lean on
the expertise of its co-parent, The New York Times Co.
"It's the why behind what is happening in the world today," senior vice
president and general manager Vivian Schiller, a former Cable News Network executive, explained
Tuesday at the Television Critics Association tour in Los Angeles.
In April 2002, the Times plunked down $100 million to buy a 50 percent stake
in the channel, which reaches about 25 million homes.
While
other Discovery digi-nets have had to feed off old or repackaged programming from
their analog sister channels, Discovery Times will be infused with its own
original series and specials, many culled from New York Times reporting and correspondents.
One example of the collaboration: On weeknights at 10 p.m., Discovery Times
will air a three-minute news segment, Page One, that previews The New
York Times' front-page stories for the following day and interviews with
Times reporters.
On launch night, March 25, Discovery Times will premiere new documentaries,
including Al Qaeda 2.0, on the terrorist organization's regrouping post-Sept. 11, and Terror's Children, stories of Afghani children in Pakistani
refugee camps.
Also at the TCA tour Tuesday, Discovery Channel unwrapped a new documentary strand,
Discovery Vision. The series will air on the last Wednesday of every month,
starting with Thomas L. Friedman Reporting: Searching for the Roots of
9/11, an investigative documentary reported by The Times' Friedman.
