David Zaslav

Years in Industry: 31

Education: BS, SUNY Binghamton; JD, Boston University Law School

It’s been go, go, go for Zaslav and the team at Discovery. The company ended 2019 with four of the top five networks for women in total day, led by Investigation Discovery. But the company’s biggest growth may be in the direct-to-consumer landscape, with the successful launch of Food Network Kitchen and a definitive agreement with Amazon, as well as a multi-year distribution agreement with YouTube TV. If that wasn’t enough, Zaslav spearheaded a global content partnership deal with the BBC, led the launch of streaming service Joyn in the German market, and acquired Golf Digest to solidify Discovery in the international golf market even further. All eyes are now on the upcoming launch of the multi-platform JV with Chip and Joanna Gaines.

The COVID-19 pandemic forever changed my perspective on: 
Working remotely and how much happier people are to have flexibility to work from home. We’ll never have as much real estate or as many desks again.

Without sports on TV, I have:
Our channels are the new sports. The numbers and engagement are huge. During the lockdown, we’ve created 350+ hours of self-shot programming from the homes of people’s favorite personalities including Guy Fieri, Mike Rowe and Ree Drummond, to name a few. “90 Day Fiancé” on TLC is #1 across television on Sunday, even more entertaining than “Sunday Night Football.”

Last content I streamed:
The “We Cook Together Weekend” on our first-of-its-kind DTC cooking ecosystem Food Network Kitchen. It was incredible to see the live cooking classes from Bobby Flay, Valerie Bertinelli, Tyler Florence and so many more amazing chefs. Food and streaming put us right in the sweet spot while everyone is home.

The future of broadband is:
It’s the new electricity.

Last show binged not on your networks:
“Unorthodox.”

What product could you not live without?
Broadband.

Honored For: