magazine . discovery communications inc. discovery communications headquarters at silver spring maryland . type public traded as nasdaq disca discb and disck nasdaq 100 components disca and disck s & p 500 components disca and disck industry mass media predecessor discovery holding company founded 1985 ; 31 years ago 1985 as the discovery channel 1994 ; 22 years ago 1994 as discovery communications founder john s. hendricks headquarters silver spring maryland u.s. area served worldwide key people robert miron chairman david m. zaslav president and ceo products broadcasting cable television and video streaming revenue us 6.4 billion 2015 1 us 6.3 billion 2014 1 operating income us 2.4 billion 2015 1 us 2.5 billion 2015 1 net income us 1.03 billion 2015 1 us 1.14 billion 2014 1 number of employees 7 000 2015 divisions list of divisions subsidiaries media alliance 20 % 2 all3media 50 % lionsgate 3.39 % 3 website corporate.discovery.com discovery communications inc. is an american global mass media and entertainment company based in silver spring maryland . the company started as a single channel in 1985 the discovery channel . dci both produces original television programming and acquires content from producers worldwide . this non fiction programming is offered through dci s more than 50 network entertainment brands including discovery channel tlc investigation discovery animal planet own oprah winfrey network science channel velocity eurosport and its web native discovery digital networks business led by seeker and sourcefed . despite being publicly traded on the nasdaq stock exchange the newhouse family exercise the largest stake in the company 31 % through privately held advance publications 4 followed by john c. malone with 29 % 5 6 led by seeker and sourcefed studios discovery connects with millennial audiences through daily shows weekly series web docs and live online events from dnews and rituals with laura ling to the philip defranco show and nuclear family . 7 discovery has 375 million monthly online streams of its programming . 8 discovery launched discovery channel online the network s website on july 4 1995 . 9 in april 2014 discovery announced a partnership with brian grazer and ron howard to launch digital studio new form . 10 in may 2014 discovery and liberty global announced an agreement to form a 50 50 joint venture to acquire all3media a producer and distributor of tv programming . 11 on november 10 2015 malone s other two companies liberty global and discovery communications made a joint investment of 195 400 million in lionsgate and acquired a 3.4 % stake in the company . 12 13 14 15 16 in december 2015 discovery launched the company s first u.s. tve streaming service discovery go connecting viewers with live and on demand access to shows and series from nine u.s. networks in the discovery portfolio discovery channel tlc animal planet investigation discovery science channel velocity destination america american heroes channel and discovery life . 17 contents 1 corporate governance and history 2 divisions 2.1 discovery networks u.s. 2.2 discovery networks international 2.3 discovery studios group 2.4 discovery digital networks 2.5 discovery education 3 history 3.1 2010 hostage crisis 4 see also 5 references 6 external links corporate governance and history edit nbcuniversal executive david zaslav was named president and ceo on november 16 2006 . 18 in addition to zaslav current executives include 19 joe abruzzese president of advertising sales adria alpert romm chief human resources & global diversity officer bruce campbell chief development distribution & legal officer bill goodwyn president & ceo discovery education paul guyardo chief commercial officer john honeycutt chief technology officer david leavy chief corporate operations and communications officer jean briac jb perrette president discovery networks international andrew warren senior executive vice president chief financial officer prior to september 18 2008 dci s ownership consisted of three shareholders discovery holding company advance newhouse communications which is owned with advance publications john s. hendricks the company s founder . on sept 17 2008 discovery holding company completed a restructuring plan . discovery holding s ascent media business was spun off and the remaining businesses discovery communications llc and advance newhouse communications were combined into a new holding company discovery communications inc. 20 the new fully public company and trades on the nasdaq stock market under the symbols disca discb and disck . sec filings are submitted by the discovery holding company . 21 in may 2014 the company announced a special dividend of shares of the company s series c common stock payable to holders of record of the company s series a common stock series b common stock and series c common stock as of the close of business on july 28 2014 . as a result of the dividend each holder of a share of the company s series a common stock series b common stock or series c common stock will receive one additional share of the company s series c common stock on or about august 6 2014 . 22 divisions edit dci operates its businesses in the following groups discovery networks u.s. discovery networks international discovery studios group discovery digital media and discovery education . 23 discovery networks u.s. edit the company started out with just a single channel discovery channel launched in 1985 . in 1991 they acquired discovery channel s rival the learning channel . in the mid 90s discovery communications started developing several new networks . the first of these to launch was animal planet which was launched in cooperation with the bbc in 1996 . in october 1996 four digital networks were launched to take advantage of the then new digital cable space ; discovery kids discovery travel & living network discovery civilization network and discovery science network . 24 this was followed by the 1998 launches of discovery wings channel and discovery health channel . they also acquired the travel channel in 1997 cbs eye on people renamed discovery people in 1998 and the health network renamed fittv in 2001 . discovery networks were early to go into high definition television with the launch of discovery hd theater in 2002 . with the launch of high definition simulcasts of discovery channel tlc animal planet and science channel in 2007 the original hd channel changed its name to hd theater . the division s channels include 25 discovery channel 1985 92 million flagship network tlc 1980 91 million acquired by discovery communications in may 1991 previously known as the learning channel . animal planet 1996 90 million investigation discovery 1996 85 million formerly discovery times discovery civilization own 2011 79 million joint venture ownership with harpo productions science 1996 71 million formerly discovery science discovery family 1996 65 million initially launched as discovery kids in 1996 relaunched as the hub in 2010 renamed hub network on 2013 and rebranded as discovery family in 2014 . 27 40 % of the network is owned by hasbro . velocity 2002 69 million formerly discovery hd theater and hd theater american heroes channel 1999 57 million formerly discovery wings military channel destination america 1996 55 million formerly discovery home and leisure 1998 2004 discovery home 2004 08 and planet green 2008 12 discovery life 2011 47 million merger of discovery health channel and fittv previously known as discovery fit & health discovery en espa ol 1998 6 million spanish language version of the discovery channel unavailable in hd discovery familia 2007 6 million 28 unavailable in hd discovery networks international edit discovery networks asia pacific type public founded 1993 headquarters 3 changi business park vista singapore area served asia pacific products broadcasting cable television and video streaming website asia.discovery.com led by flagship network discovery channel discovery network international 29 distributes international brands including discovery channel tlc id investigation discovery animal planet science turbo and eurosport . the company employs an extensive localization strategy by offering customized schedules and programming in 45 languages worldwide via hundreds of distribution feeds distributing an average of 10 channels in each market . discovery networks international has five regional operations spanning asia pacific central & eastern europe middle east and africa ceemea latin america u.s. hispanic northern europe and southern europe with regional headquarters in singapore warsaw miami london mumbai and milan . 30 in june 2015 discovery communications won the multiplatform rights across europe to the olympic games from 2018 to 2024 . 31 discovery and eurosport promised more coverage than ever across screens to europe s 700 million residents . discovery paid 1.3 billion euros for the rights in 50 countries excluding russian and france and the uk for just the 2022 and 2024 games ; discovery sublicensed the free to air rights in the uk to the bbc for the 2022 and 2024 games while gaining the pay tv rights for the 2018 and 2020 games . additionally discovery has and committed to broadcast 200 hours of the summer games and 100 hours of the winter games on free to air tv . 32 in august 2016 liberty global and discovery renewed their long term distribution agreement across 12 european countries with greatly expanded distribution rights over the long term . this deal includes discovery channel tlc id and eurosport . the deal also includes digital rights . 33 34 35 eurosport has also expanded its deal with the all england club to show all the wimbledon matches live in 16 additional countries . it is a 3 year deal that includes exclusive tv and digital rights . this expands their tennis portfolio to show all four grand slams . 36 discovery channel 1989 388 million tlc 325 million animal planet 1997 307 million eurosport acquired in 2014 154 million investigation discovery 121 million discovery kids 1996 97 million switchover media acquired in 2013 37 101 million discovery science 1997 93 million dmax 2006 81 million launch 2006 germany 2008 uk & ireland 2011 italy 2014 asia discovery home & health 2000 65 million discovery turbo discovery turbo xtra 2005 73 million discovery communications also operates living channel and food tv in new zealand . 25 discovery studios group edit discovery studios group is a full service production distribution and merchandising group within discovery communications . 23 discovery studios group consists of discovery studios discovery consumer products discovery program sales discovery private networks discovery music source discovery access raw discovery digital networks edit led by seeker and sourcefed studios discovery connects with millennial audiences through daily shows weekly series web docs and live online events from dnews hosted by amy shira teitel and rituals with laura ling to the philip defranco show and nuclear family . 38 39 in december 2015 discovery communications signed a deal with videoblocks . the deal made available around 30 000 videos owned by them for purchase on the videoblocks marketplace . 40 discovery education edit discovery education is a division which offers standards based digital content for k 12 in 2013 discovery education expanded its reach by acquiring espresso group ltd. 41 serving 3 million educators and over 30 million students discovery education s services are in half of u.s. classrooms over 40 percent of all primary schools in the uk and more than 50 countries . 42 history edit after acquiring the learning channel now tlc in may 1991 discovery announced plans in november 1994 to launch four new channels including animal planet and what would later become science channel . 43 in june 2002 discovery communications launched the first 24 7 hd network in the united states discovery hd theater . hd feeds would later be launched for its networks in the u.s. and globally as the technology took hold in living rooms . discovery communications invested in original digital content in may 2012 with the acquisition of revision3 which has evolved into its current discovery digital networks business . on march 17 2009 discovery revealed that it owned the rights to several patents related to e books in announcing a patent infringement lawsuit against amazon.com maker of the kindle e