SWIMMING FOR $$
Discovery, other nets work OT to woo ad money
After nearly 30 years, even “Shark Week,” Discovery Communications’ annual ratings winner, needs a makeover.
Which is why Olympic champ Michael Phelps will find himself in a pool racing a shark this summer.
The special star turn, announced on Tuesday, comes as digital players grab more attention from marketers — forcing traditional TV networks to work harder to grab the attention and dollars of advertisers.
Chief Executive David Zaslav is pitching his company’s programming prowess across all platforms, including new Olympicthemed content for Snapchat and a new wedding app for sale through Amazon.
“We have to figure out IP [intellectual property] that can be on every single device,” Zaslav said during the company’s upfront presentation in New York.
Last year, Discovery Communications had US ad revenue of $1.69 billion, a 2 percent increase over 2015.
Digital ad spending is expected to hit $77.37 billion this year, while TV ad spending will be $72.01 billion, according to eMarketer.
Discovery, which operates its namesake channel plus TLC, Animal Planet and ID, owns all of the content it airs — and last fall invested $100 million in Ben Lerer’s Group Nine Media, which operates a host of digital ventures, including NowThis.
Group Nine content collects some 5 billion streams a month and will help advertis- ers transform their TV commercials to become more relevant in social media.
Discovery also owns the European rights to the 2018 Winter Olympics and is at work creating one-minute profiles of Olympians to share on social media around the globe.
Discovery, like other traditional TV outlets, is also fast at work to produce apps so advertisers can reach their target demo where they live — on portable devices.
At Discovery, that means apps for all of its TV chan- nels. It is the No. 1 provider of news and video on Facebook, it said.
“It’s about changing the culture of our company,” said Zaslav.
Discovery apps were downloaded 7 million times in 2016 and will be available to 116 million connected devices by the end of 2017. Discovery also announced:
A new app for Amazon called “Say Yes,” for $3.99
Reboots of original shows “Trading Spaces” (the home renovation series that catapulted the genre into being), “Cash Cab” (in which stars surprise cabbies) and “Mythbusters.”
New programs, including “My Fat Pet” (a show about people who overfeed their animals and then try to get them fit again), “Darkness” (a survival series that has contestants clambering around in underground caves in complete darkness) and a show that commemorates the anniversary of Princess Diana’s death
The evolution of these channels will be constant, one analyst said.
“Discovery and other nonsports-driven cable networks need to band together to create a cheap entertainment bundle (sub $20), especially with sports-heavy Hulu live launching soon,” BTIG’s Rich Greenfield told The Post.