Discovery Channel Is #1 in Quality and Trust Among All Media and TV Brands in the 2007 Equitrend® Brand Study
-- Discovery Communications Holds 10 of the Top 25 Spots --
June 19, 2007
(Silver Spring, MD) The Discovery Channel is the #1 Media Brand in Overall Quality for the 11th consecutive year, and the #1 Television Network Brand in Overall Quality for the 15th consecutive year according to the Spring 2007 EquiTrend® brand study by Harris Interactive®.1 The Discovery Channel also ranked 8th overall for quality among all consumer brands measured -- the highest score of any media brand.
“Discovery Communications is the number one nonfiction media company in the world and we are honored that viewers consistently recognize the Discovery Channel’s commitment to quality and excellence,” said David Zaslav, president and chief executive officer, Discovery Communications. “Discovery’s primary focus is to build strong brands that are meaningful and distinctive, and this study demonstrates the value of our ongoing mission.”
The number of high quality Discovery Communications brands in the study exceeds all other media companies measured. All 10 of Discovery’s brands measured -- the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery Home Channel, Discovery Times Channel, The Science Channel, Military Channel, Discovery Kids, Discovery Times and Discovery HD Theater -- rank among the top 25 in both the media and TV brand categories for the Quality measurement. Discovery also had more online brands in the top 25 for quality than any other online brand measured. Discovery brands in the top 25 included discovery.com and the websites for the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet and Discovery Health.
Among media and TV brands, the Discovery Channel ranked first in six of the eight categories measured, which include: quality, trust, brand expectation, equity, overall relevance and purchase consideration.
Methodology
The 2007 EquiTrend® Brand Study is a study conducted online once yearly by Harris Interactive® among an overall sample of 27,555 consumers, ages 15 and older. The total number of brands rated was 1,120. Each respondent was asked to rate a total of 60 randomly selected brands and each brand received approximately 1,050 ratings. This latest survey was conducted within the U.S. between March 20 and April 3, 2007. Data were weighted to be representative of the entire U.S. population of consumers ages 15 and over on the basis of age by sex, education, race/ethnicity, region, income, and data from respondents ages 18 and over were also weighted for their propensity to be online.
Equitrend® enables brands to be evaluated individually, as part of a category, as part of a corporate family, and as part of the universe of brands. The study has been designed to be a concise and efficient way of obtaining quality, well-rounded information about the critical elements of a brand’s health. Its six key measures help determine a brand’s stance amongst competitors, within other categories, and in comparison to world-class brands.
About Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications is the number-one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 170 countries. Through TV and digital media, Discovery's 100-plus worldwide networks include Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, The Science Channel, Discovery Health and Discovery HD Theater. Discovery Communications is owned by Discovery Holding Co. (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB), Advance/Newhouse Communications and John S. Hendricks, Discovery's founder and chairman. For more information please visit www.discovery.com.
About Harris Interactive®
Harris Interactive is the 12th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world. The company provides innovative research, insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what it believes to be the world’s largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its United States , Europe and Asia offices, its wholly-owned subsidiaries Novatris in France and MediaTransfer AG in Germany , and through a global network of independent market research firms. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com.