Cable

摘要

Discovery Communications' investment in 3D-based 3net has been a “good experience,” but it isn’tnclear “the channel is going to work,” Discovery CEO David Zaslav told us at the Nomura Securities conference in New York. The 3net channel began in 2011 as a partnership involving Discovery, Imax andnSony and has since gained carriage on Comcast, DirecTV, Service Electric Cablevision and Netflix. “It’sndoing OK, but we don’t have any plans to do anything differently with it,” Zaslav said Thursday. “It’s notnclear that 3D is catching on in the home in a way that’s meaningful.” But Discovery, which has an extensivenlibrary of 3D content, can use the technology for securing carriage deals with cable operators, Zaslavnsaid. The 3net channel and its 3D content has given Discovery an advantage on its competition, in thatn“we know better than anybody what looks good in 3D,” he told us. Despite being offered by DirecTV andnComcast, “only a small number” of viewers are watching 3net, Zaslav said. Discovery’s new-media business,nwhich includes online video service Revision3, is losing money, but “it’s not a material amount,”nZaslav said. Revision3, which Discovery purchased a year ago, recently introduced TestTube.com, a science-ntheme digital video network, last month with 15 short-form series that will be rolled out gradually.nTestTube.com, which will initially be available through Revision3’s website and app, Microsoft’s Xboxnand Google’s YouTube, will have a range of programming including science-based DNews and Thanks,nDisaster, which seeks to find “silver lining" in tragic events, Discovery said. “We’re trying to figure outnwho the audience is” for TestTube.com, “how we can hang out with them and what the economic model isnfor these shows,” Zaslav said. “It’s also for us to learn more about this type of programming.” Revision3nalso acquired Internet video developer Philip DeFranco’s online channels and ventures, including ThenPhilip DeFranco Show, SourceFed and The Vloggity. DeFranco will join Revision3 as a senior vice president.nThe Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), which Discovery operates in a venture with Oprah Winfrey'snHarpo Productions, will turn profitable in the second half of the year, Zaslav said. OWN in May showednTyler Perry's The Have and Have Nots and Love Thy Neighbor, each getting 1.5-1.7 million viewers. Discoverynalso will seek to build on its April acquisition of Norwegian cable operator SBS Nordic from Germany'snProSiebenSat.1, Zaslav said. SBS, which has been renamed SBS Discovery, had a 30-40 percentnshare of the Nordic market, operating 12 TV and 19 radio stations, he said. SBS had annual revenue ofnabout $700 million and gross margins of 22-23 percent, SBS said. Discovery's fiscal 2012 annual grossnmargin was 72.8 percent, the company said.