title of this article be changed to discovery tv channel . please see the relevant discussion on the discussion page . do not move the page until the discussion has reached consensus for the change and is closed . this article is about the tv channel in the united states . for other uses see discovery channel disambiguation . discovery channel launched june 17 1985 ; 31 years ago 1985 06 17 1 owned by discovery communications inc. picture format 1080i hdtv 480i sdtv slogan grab life by the globe country united states language english spanish via sap audio track broadcast area worldwide headquarters silver spring maryland formerly called the discovery channel 1985 1995 sister channel s american heroes channel animal planet destination america discovery family discovery life investigation discovery oprah winfrey network science tlc velocity website www.discovery.com availability terrestrial selective tv inc. alexandria minnesota k47kz channel 47 satellite directv 278 hd sd 1278 vod dish network 182 hd sd c band amc 10 channel 21 cable verizon fios 620 hd 120 sd iptv sky angel 313 at & t u verse 1120 hd 120 sd southern fibernet atlanta ga 1123 hd 123 sd discovery channel formerly the discovery channel from 1985 to 1995 and often referred to as simply discovery is an american basic cable and satellite television channel which is also delivered via iptv terrestrial television and internet television in other parts of the world that is the flagship television property of discovery communications a publicly traded company run by ceo david zaslav . as of june 2012 update discovery channel is the third most widely distributed cable channel in the united states behind tbs and the weather channel ; 2 it is available in 409 million households worldwide through its u.s. flagship channel and its various owned or licensed television channels internationally . 3 it initially provided documentary television programming focused primarily on popular science technology and history but in recent years has expanded into reality television and pseudo scientific entertainment . programming on the flagship discovery channel in the u.s. is primarily focused on reality television series such as speculative investigation with shows such as mythbusters unsolved history and best evidence automobiles and occupations such as dirty jobs and deadliest catch ; it also features documentaries specifically aimed at families and younger audiences . a popular annual feature on the channel is shark week which airs on discovery during the summer months . 4 as of february 2015 update discovery channel is available to approximately 96 589 000 pay television households 83 % of households with television in the united states . 5 contents 1 history 2 programming 3 non television ventures 3.1 pro cycling team 3.2 discovery channel radio 3.3 store 3.4 telescope 3.5 website 4 marketing and branding 4.1 taglines 4.2 logos 5 international 5.1 canada 5.2 europe 5.3 australia and new zealand 5.4 southeast asia 5.5 india 5.6 hindi 5.7 telugu 5.8 bangla 5.9 tamil 5.10 south africa 6 controversies 6.1 rfid 6.2 enigmatic malaysia 6.3 romanian rcs & rds 6.4 giant sharks 6.5 eaten alive 6.6 naked and afraid 7 see also 8 references 9 external links 9.1 main 9.2 other history john hendricks founded the channel and its parent company cable educational network inc. in 1982 . 6 several investors including the bbc allen & company and venture america raised 5 million in start up capital to launch the network . the discovery channel began broadcasting on june 17 1985 . it was initially available to 156 000 households and broadcast for 12 hours each day between 3 p.m. and 3 a.m. about 75 percent of its program content had never been broadcast on u.s. television before . 7 in its early years the channel s focus centered on educational programming in the form of cultural and wildlife documentaries and science and historical specials . it also broadcast some soviet programming during this time including the news program vremya . 8 in 1988 the channel premiered the nightly program world monitor produced by the christian science monitor . in 1988 the discovery channel debuted an annual programming stunt called shark week the week long event eventually gained in popularity starting in the 1990s and continues to be shown each summer on the channel to this day . by 1990 the channel was available in over 50 million households . citation needed the channel began to shift its focus in the early 2000s to attract a broader audience by incorporating more reality based series focusing on automotive occupations and speculative investigation series ; though the refocused programming strategy proved popular discovery channel s ratings began to decline by the middle of the decade . the drop in viewership was widely attributed to an over reliance on a few hit series such as monster garage and american chopper . citation needed some critics 9 said such shows strayed from discovery s intention of providing more educationally based shows aimed at helping viewers learn about the world around them . in 2005 discovery changed its programming focus to include more popular science and historical themes . 10 the network s ratings eventually recovered in 2006 . 11 on january 4 2006 discovery communications announced anchor ted koppel executive producer tom bettag and eight other former staff members from the abc newsmagazine nightline were joining discovery channel . the network was nominated for seven primetime emmy awards that year for shows including the flight that fought back a documentary about the hijacking of united airlines flight 93 during the terrorist attacks of september 11 2001 and deadliest catch a reality series about a group of seafood fishermen . in 2007 discovery channel s top series included the emmy award and peabody award winning planet earth dirty jobs mythbusters and deadliest catch . discovery channel s 2008 lineup included fight quest and smash lab . 12 on september 1 2010 43 year old james jay lee entered the discovery communications headquarters in silver spring maryland armed with a handgun . lee fired at least one shot and held several employees hostage ; he was later shot dead by police . 13 14 lee had published criticisms of the network at savetheplanetprotest.com . 14 in december 2015 discovery communications launched its tv everywhere service discovery go which features live and video on demand content from discovery channel and eight of its sister networks . 15 programming main article list of programs broadcast by discovery channel popular programs on the channel have included the shark week programming event deadliest catch mythbusters how it s made dirty jobs cash cab and man vs. wild . christopher lowell won a daytime emmy award in 2000 for the christopher lowell show which aired on the discovery channel from 1998 to 2001 . citation needed non television ventures pro cycling team main article discovery channel pro cycling team shortly before the 2004 tour de france discovery channel announced it would become the primary sponsor of a professional bicycling team starting in 2005 featuring seven time tour de france winner lance armstrong . after the 2007 victory with the spaniard alberto contador discovery channel discontinued the cycling sponsorship . discovery channel radio discovery channel radio was a radio network whose programming consisted of audio versions of popular programs from the discovery communications family of television channels . discovery channel radio was previously carried by xm satellite radio until its removal from the provider in early september 2005 . sirius satellite radio dropped discovery radio from its lineup on february 21 2007 ; it was also carried on both of canada s major satellite radio services . store discovery channel lent its brand to retail stores in malls and other locations across america and to an online store . the store s specialty products were educational gifts most of which were manufactured with the discovery channel brand name . on may 17 2007 discovery communications announced it would close its standalone and mall based stores . hudson group will continue to operate the discovery channel airport stores and the website remains in operation . 16 telescope main article discovery channel telescope discovery channel funded the construction of the discovery channel telescope in partnership with lowell observatory . website discovery.com is the discovery channel s official website which primarily provides information on the channel s programming and additional content including games tied to those shows . marketing and branding taglines discovery channel s previous taglines had been explore your world and there s no thrill like discovery . keeping with its changing focus away from strictly educational programming toward reality tv the slogan was changed in the early 2000s to entertain your brain . the new tagline for the revamped discovery channel was let s all discover ... with a continuing phrase or sentence that relates to a show . for example when advertising for mythbusters the commercial would end let s all discover why no myth is safe . with the 2008 logo change came a new tagline the world is just ... awesome . the newest image promos include an unreleased mix of the song wonders never cease by morcheeba from the album entitled the antidote and the song typical by mutemath . their most recent promo i love the world created by the 72andsunny agency contains amended verses and the refrain from the traditional campfire song i love the mountains . logos the logo of discovery channel from 1987 to 1995 . the next logo of discovery channel from 1995 to 2000 . the fourth logo of discovery channel . used from 2000 to 2008 . the fifth logo of discovery channel used from 2009 to 2013 still used as a secondary logo . the discovery channel s first logo was a television screen picturing a map of the world . for two decades starting in 1987 the channel s logo incorporated the discovery wordmark rendered in the aurora bold condensed font with a circlular shape in front of it . the circle usually took the form of a rising sun or an animated version of the vitruvian man . in 1995 the channel s name was simplified to discovery channel dropping the the from its name . a globe became a permanent part of the logo and an underline was added to the bottom of the logo . during this time the company started expanding and launched several new networks . many of the sister networks used logo designs similar to the one used by discovery often incorporating the globe and using the same typeface . networks that had logos based on discovery s included animal planet travel channel discovery science discovery wings and discovery home & leisure . the logo was changed slightly in 2000 when the word channel was moved into the underline and the globe was altered to focus on the pacific ocean . on april 15 2008 before the season premiere of deadliest catch discovery channel debuted a new logo and a new tagline the world is just awesome . the logo was designed by boston based design firm viewpoint creative and replaced the longstanding aurora bold condensed font in the logo with gotham . 17 the globe has been merged with the d in discovery . 18 a combination of the d in the wordmark and the globe is sometimes used separately primarily as the channel s logo bug during its programming . later in 2009 design agency royale slightly modified the logo detaching the globe from the d and making the word channel slightly bigger . the modified logo was rolled out to discovery s international channels during the first half of 2009 . in 2013 the logo was changed to the globe and the d still merged but no other letters or words . international discovery channel reaches 431 million homes in 170 countries . discovery communications currently offers 29 network brands in 33 languages . in a number of countries discovery s channels