Sun Valley, Idaho – Discovery Communications Inc., owner of cable TV’s Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, plans to buy social networking websites to complement its Internet business, chief executive David Zaslav said.
“We need to grow in new media,” Zaslav told reporters Tuesday night at the annual Allen & Co. media conference. “There are a lot of great companies here. This gives us a chance to get a little more acquainted.”
Douglas County-based Discovery Holding Corp., chaired by John Malone, owns a 66 percent stake in Discovery Communications.
Discovery Holding was spun off from Liberty Media Corp. in 2005.
The strategy may be part of an effort to prepare Discovery Communications to go public, David Joyce, an analyst at Miller Tabak & Co., said in May.
Discovery Communications wouldn’t go public in the traditional sense. Advance Newhouse owns 33 percent of Discovery Communications. If Newhouse sold its stake to Discovery Holding, Discovery Communications would be wholly owned by Discovery Holding, a public company.
Shares of Discovery Holding have climbed about 46 percent this year. It closed Wednesday at $23.53.
Zaslav didn’t name any potential acquisition targets. Facebook, Sling Media Inc. and LinkedIn Corp. are among social networking and other new-media companies at the conference.
Silver Spring, Md.-based Discovery said in May that it would close 103 stores, including four stores in Colorado, and cut its workforce by about 25 percent to focus on selling toys, books and games on the Internet and through retailers.
“We’re here to meet a bunch of people, talk a little bit more about what Discovery is doing and have a good time,” Zaslav said. “We have some great new shows,” including “Man vs. Wild,” which began two weeks ago.
In 2008, the company plans to start Planet Green, a cable channel that will focus on the environment.
Denver Post staff writer Kimberly S. Johnson contributed to this report.
