Discovery US celebrates 25 years of existence

Submitted by ITV Production on Jun 04

MUMBAI: US broadcaster Discovery will celebrate 25 years of existence.

During the week of 13 June, 2010, Discovery will commemorate its first 25 years by hosting celebrations on air, online and in the heart of communities around the globe.

Discovery was born from the vision of a young man from Maryland, John Hendricks. More than 25 years ago, Hendricks mortgaged everything he owned to realize his dream: the first cable network in the US dedicated to providing high-quality documentary programming. On 17 June, 1985, John Hendricks launched Discovery Channel to 156,000 subscribers.

Today, the network reaches more than 100 million subscribers in the U.S. alone and globally. Discovery Communications has more than 100 networks in over 180 countries, touching 1.5 billion subscribers.

Discovery Channel president, GM Clark Bunting says, "Discovery has inspired a generation and become a state of mind. I‘m proud to say that Discovery has ignited the passion inside all of us to be curious, explore and be more engaged with the natural world. It is this curiosity and commitment to telling amazing stories that drives us to create the best content on television every single day. And the best is yet to come."

Discovery Channel‘s 25th Anniversary Week features a look back at the people, places and events that have shaped the network - and the world - over the past 25 years (including favorite moments chosen by Discovery family members including Mike Rowe and the MythBusters), as well as a look towards the future.

Discovery is also inviting fans to help celebrate the network‘s 25th anniversary by sharing their discoveries -- both big and small, global in nature or personal - online at mydiscovery.com and through Twitter using the hashtag #mydiscovery. Beginning later this month, visitors to mydiscovery.com can browse text, picture and video discoveries by topic and timeline, in addition to adding their own. Throughout the 25th Anniversary week, favorite fan tweets will be featured on Discovery Channel during primetime programming.

On 18 June Discovery employees will get into the anniversary celebration mode. Every Discovery office worldwide will take part in "Discover Your Impact Day," an opportunity for employees to volunteer in their communities for the day and reinforce Discovery‘s mission to satisfy curiosity and make a difference in people‘s lives. Community service opportunities are organised around three themes core to Discovery‘s DNA: land (planting trees, cleaning up a park, etc.); water (working with a marine group, installing water barrels in community gardens, etc.) and people (working with children, cleaning up schools and playgrounds, etc.).

One show that will air will be 25 Years of Discovery. In this anniversary special narrated by Mike Rowe, famous faces and fans alike will call out their favorite Discovery moments. We‘ll also revisit the most extraordinary things we‘ve ever seen on the network.

Another show is Dirty Jobs: The Dirty Truth.In a world full of sentimental platitudes like "Teamwork is the Answer," Mike Rowe serves up an alternative to worn out clich?s with six hard-earned lessons gleaned from his 250+ Dirty Jobs. He also presents a new roster of role models: 25 regular people who discovered long ago that the road to job security is not always paved with conventional wisdom.

There will be a two hour episode of MythBusters Top 25 Moments. Adam, Jamie, Grant, Kari and Tory reveal their top 25 most memorable myths and moments from the series. They have a lot to choose from - over the past eight years, they‘ve produced 191 episodes featuring 738 myths and 2,326 experiments. The team explains what makes each of these "best" myths so special, providing an insider‘s view into what it‘s like to be a MythBuster.