Upfront Update: Discovery's Show-and-Tell/Don't Tell Hours - Simon Applebaum

The fun of Discovery Communications39 annual New York multihour multinetwork upfront presentation year in and out is guessing what will be played up and what will not Comes across as watching the classic game show You Don39t Say live in front of you To adapt what host Tom Kennedy dittied at the close of every episode it39s often not what Discovery says that counts it39s what they don39t sayThis April39s edition takes the guesswork to another level because of what this company has accomplished over the last six months turn Discovery Kids into The Hub with Hasbro as comanager relaunch Discovery Health as Oprah Winfrey NetworkOWN having Oprah39s Harpo production company in the quotcoquot role bring back Discovery Health a month after OWN39s debut as a reconstituted diginet with Fit TV Discovery Fit ampamp Health and launch 3net the ambitious 3D 247 network in partnership with Sony and Imax Just to cloud the guesswork even more Discovery announces this particular upfront morning to dump its groundbreaking HD Theater this fall for Velocity devoted to allHD content for upscale men that stresses car leisure and adventure topicsIf you39ve got game and want to guess the contents of Discovery39s 2011 format be my guest breathe and stop reading When you39ve cast a vote continueVenue The retroCinerama stage look Nickelodeon successfully realized at its Jazz At Lincoln Center showcase last month is catching on For this Lincoln Center crowd three large screens were connected on a single frame hovering a few feet above the stage All featured clever animation of Discovery39s globe logo breaking apart and reassembled as the audience walked in United they made the company39s always jawdropping montage video at the start even more effective The place also features some of the best postpresentation cuisine around Grade APresentation Smart move by organizers and Discovery CEO David Zaslav to begin with a recap of those recent channel makeovers including videos on Discovery Fit ampamp Health and Velocity Not very smart a quick reference to 3net and no video of its original programming with Zaslav commenting on the fly that quotWe39re now leading in 3Dquot Last year the ceremony ended with 3net as the audience wore glasses to see a closing montage Extremely hard to believe something couldn39t be done to give the service a better showcase especially when a week later 3net announces production on a Civil War miniseries running this fall and more important discloses plans to enter the original scripted series marketplace DiscoverySonyImax should rectify this gaff by doing a separate event for advertisers and press just as Discovery did for The Hub a few weeks ago and will do next month for its Latinotargeted networks Discovery Espanol and Discovery Familia The rest of the time demonstrated what Zaslav called the company39s commitment to quotbetter brands better channels better storytellingquot Some highlights Rosie O39Donnell39s songanddance preview of her new OWN show using the song Roxie from Chicago various TLC reality personalities hosting the channel39s portion of the proceedings in place of new president Amy Winter Andy Samberg reacting to his new job as Shark Week host this summer Penn ampamp Teller39s glasses prank involving an audience member and Morgan Freeman walking out to heartfelt applause on behalf of his Through The Wormhole Science Channel soon to be Sci series One lowlight Curiosity Discovery Channel39s highlytouted multiyear series involving founderchairman John Hendricks left everyone curious over when it will debut No information given out during or after the presentation and all Hendricks did was take a bow from his orchestra seat Grade B News Value The variety of networks Discovery manages leaves considerable room for news discovery At mothership Discovery Channel alone PampampT39s Secrets Of The Universe Best In The Business and Live On A Wire the latter with a live stunt episode look like winners along with spring 2012 miniseries Frozen Planet TLC appears ready to test new directions with Gypsyville Homecoming I Kid think Kids Say The Darndest Things with Brad Garrett playing Art Linkletter and Off The Rez Native American motherdaughter duo on a basketball scholarship quest Hillbilly Handfishin39 could be the next Animal Planet hoot if the clip played for it is indicative As for OWN promising new series there include Confronting Sweetie Pies I Owe You My Life and a look at choreographer Louie Spencer Grade AminusHost Mostly from the executive suite taking turns on stage depending on the network in view No matter who was onAnimal Planet president Marjorie Kaplan counterpart at Investigation DiscoveryMilitary Channel Henry Schleiff etcthings ran smooth accompanied by video after video Grade AminusOverall Grade Bplus Applaud Discovery for packing a lot to swallow in two hours and for the most part being successful at it with all the networks in its stable However 3net blew an opportunity to make waves as the net most likely to jumpstart 3D TV interest with the public And what gives with CuriosityFinal thought Discovery Communications no longer has a major role with BBC America although that channel will be part of Discovery39s booth at The Cable Show this June in Chicago When will BBC America bring us a solo upfront event Just raising the subjectUntil the next time stay well and stay tuned Simon Applebaum is hostproducer of Tomorrow Will Be Televised the Internet radiopodcastdistributed program about the TV scene Tomorrow runs live at 3 pm Eastern time noon Pacific time over wwwblogtalkradiocom with replays available 247 at wwwblogtalkradiocomsimonapple04 Podcasts are downloadable from ITunescom and other Web sites arranged by Sonibyte wwwsonibytecom Have a question or reaction Email it to simonapple04yahoocom Read all Simonamp8217s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Tomorrow Will Be TelevisedCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates 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Upfront Update: Discovery's Show-and-Tell/Don't Tell Hours - Simon Applebaum

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