Animal Planet

World Screen Weekly, January 25, 2007

COUNTRY: U.S.

LAUNCH DATE: October 1, 1996

NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS: The network currently has more than 89 million subscribers in the U.S. with carriage on all the major U.S. cable and satellite providers.

OWNERSHIP: Animal Planet Media Enterprises, a unit of Discovery Communications Inc.

DESCRIPTION: Animal Planet is the only channel that is dedicated 24/7 to exploring the relationship between humans and animals. While the network aims to attract a target audience consisting mostly of adults aged 25-54, its programming is always family-friendly. It is a division of Animal Planet Media Enterprises, which aims to offer animal lovers and pet owners access to a centralized online, television and mobile community. The channel’s sister assets include a broadband offering called Animal Planet Beyond, the websites Petfinder.com and PetsIncredible.com, and a VOD service.

PRESIDENT, DISCOVERY NETWORKS U.S.: Billy Campbell

EXECUTIVE VP & GENERAL MANAGER,

ANIMAL PLANET MEDIA ENTERPRISES: Maureen Smith

VP, PROGRAMMING: Dan Russell

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: The programs on Animal Planet range from natural-history documentaries to straightforward entertainment programming, but the network ensures that animals are highlighted. “Whatever’s on our channel, animals are always shown in the right light and they are the focus of attention,” says Dan Russell, the VP of programming at Animal Planet.

As a member of the launch team of Animal Planet, Russell has seen the network evolve and hone its brand identity since its debut in 1996. He was with Animal Planet for a two-year period from 1996-1998 before heading off to work at other Discovery-owned networks. In 2006, he was given the opportunity to rejoin Animal Planet. “It’s really like a homecoming to come back to a brand that I’m familiar with and to a genre that I’m really passionate about,” says Russell.

Animal Planet has shifted from a slate of mostly acquired programming to one that is almost wholly comprised of original programming, with the network now producing roughly 90 percent of its own programs. “As with any network, as you mature and grow, you tend to start refining and creating programming that’s very tailored to your network,” explains Russell. “I know that in the marketplace, there just isn’t that much quality programming out there to be acquired. And that’s another reason for us to really get hot and heavy in the original world.”

Steve Irwin’s The Crocodile Hunter and the series Animal Planet Heroes, centered around “animal cops” or local law enforcement that come to the aid of animals in distress, have been an integral part of the network’s lineup. Whoa! Sunday, a two-hour programming block on Sundays that contains the “biggest and best” of Animal Planet and airs most of the network’s two-hour specials, also continues to do well.

Meerkat Manor, a original “docu-soap” about a family of meerkats, has proved to be one of the network’s biggest hits and will enter its third season this summer. The Most Extreme, a countdown that takes sequences out of feature-length documentaries and groups them into subjects such as the “biggest, baddest bugs” and the fastest animals, has also been successful.

New reality series like Ms. Adventure and E-Vet Interns premiered in January on the channel. Ms. Adventure follows comedian Rachel Reenstra as she travels the world and interacts with a wide variety of animals to gain insight into human relationships. Russell is particularly excited about E-Vet Interns, which he described as “the animal version of Grey’s Anatomy.”

Animal Planet U.S. also works closely with Animal Planet International. Meerkat Manor debuted internationally before premiering in the U.S. The Most Extreme series has also expanded to many of Animal Planet’s international feeds. A large number of the documentaries airing on Animal Planet U.S. have been co-produced with Animal Planet International. “We are fortunate to have a global brand with Animal Planet, with a big presence on virtually every continent,” Russell says.

WHAT’S NEW: Upcoming specials include Spring Watch USA, a series of six one-hour specials premiering in April that will capture the development of spring in the animal world across the U.S. Divine Canine, about an order of Russian orthodox monks in upstate New York and the dogs they train, is also scheduled for an April premiere.

“Over the past two years, Animal Planet has been very steady in the audience delivery that it’s been achieving and I think that there is opportunity for this network, with the right programming mix, to really elevate [the audience share] within the next 18 months [by] another 10 or 20 percent,” says Russell.

In addition, Animal Planet currently has mobile content airing within the Discovery Channel mobile platform, which Russell considers to be a “stepping stone” towards creating a “fully dedicated Animal Planet destination for mobile.”

WEBSITE: www.animalplanet.com

—By Irene Lew