Silver Springs, Md. -- Discovery Communications Inc. moved
a top executive involved in its international division into the spot overseeing its
creation of a new worldwide headquarters in Silver Springs, Md.
Dom Fioravanti, who has been senior vice president,
international, at Discovery Networks International, retains the same title (minus the word
"international") as he takes on duties at DCI overseeing the $150
million-to-$175 million real estate project.
The new space is only a short distance from Discovery's
current home in Bethesda, and it will allow the company to consolidate its operations,
which currently span some six different buildings in the area. The company expects to add
about 200 employees to its 800-person base in the area and move into the new facilities by
2001.
"It was getting really inefficient, and we couldn't
come up with the right space," Fioravanti said. "But when Montgomery County
[Maryland] heard we were considering a site in Virginia, they offered us the position of
anchor of the Silver Springs development project."
For Fioravanti, the job ahead is a different sort of
"green fields" project than he has been involved with, but with striking
similarities.
Fioravanti not only launched all of Discovery's channels in
Asia and Latin America, but he oversaw the construction of its Latin American headquarters
in Miami. He is generally considered to be among the more well-respected and knowledgeable
executives in the panregional channel business, and most recently had operational
management of the company's Asian, Indian and Mideast activities.
Fiorvanti switches jobs Dec. 1. Don Wear, who is president
of Discovery Networks International, says he will not replace him in the short term.
Instead, Wear's going to flatten out the organization and have Asia, India and the Mideast
report directly to him.
