A media company that actually “gets” innovation

The most interesting development in the media world over the past month or so hasn’t been Rupert Murdoch’s foray into 24/7 business news programming. And it certainly hasn’t been NBC Universal’s $925 million deal for Oxygen Media. Instead, it’s the sea change in corporate strategy going on at Discovery Communications, better known as the operator of cable channels such as Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. In August, Discovery acquired the popular site TreeHugger.com for $10 million. On Monday, the company snatched up HowStuffWorks.com for $250 million. Together, the two sites will become the focal point for the company’s revamped Internet strategy. (In fact, Ad Age has referred to the bigger and better Discovery Communications as “DiscoveryPedia.”)

The bold moves appear to be the work of CEO David Zaslav (a former NBC veteran), who took over Discovery in January. Since taking over, he has replaced much of the company’s top management, closed its chain of retail stores and lopped off 20% of the workforce. Any guesses as to what’s the next Internet media property he might look to acquire?

[image: Discovery + TreeHugger]