Senior Restructure at Discovery

SILVER SPRING, February 6: David Zaslav, the new CEO of
Discovery Communications, has initiated a significant restructure at the
company with five senior executives exiting, including Billy Campbell and Dawn
McCall.

Campbell’s position, of president of U.S. networks for
Discovery, is being eliminated. Dawn McCall, the longtime president of Discovery
Networks International, is being replaced by Greg Ricca, a former COO of MTV
International. Also leaving are David Abraham, the executive VP and GM of TLC;
Maureen Smith, the executive VP and GM of Animal Planet Media Enterprises; and
Pandit Wright, the senior executive VP of human resources. Zaslav, who was
recruited from NBC Universal to succeed former CEO Judith McHale, is
restructuring the company into five distinct divisions:
Discovery Channel, TLC, Discovery Travel Media, Animal Planet
Media/Discovery Kids Media and Discovery Health Media Enterprises.

Jane Root has been upped to president and general manager of
Discovery Channel, adding oversight of Science Channel to her portfolio.
Marjorie Kaplan will oversee Animal Planet Media/Discovery Kids Media as
president and GM. Pat Younge will be president and GM of Discovery Travel Media
and Len Tacconi will oversee Discovery Health Media Enterprises. The search for
an executive to helm TLC is underway. Each of those divisional heads will
report directly to Zaslav.

"This is about focusing on creating a lean culture with
less layers so that we’re more efficient, we’re faster,” Zaslav told the New
York Times. "The objective is to push
authority and accountability down across the company. And I want to get my
hands on the key jewels at this company.”

Zaslav also tapped Tom Wolzien, a former media analyst for
Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, to advise the company on global growth
strategy. And Joel Berman, the former president of CBS Paramount Worldwide Television
Distribution, will advise the company on international content sales. Further,
Mark Hollinger has been promoted to president of global businesses and
operations.