Bill Goodwyn

President, Global Distribution and
CEO, Discovery Education

Bill Goodwyn serves as President, Global Distribution and CEO of Discovery Education for Discovery Communications. As President of Global Distribution, he oversees all content distribution sales and marketing activity on behalf of Discovery's more than 100 worldwide networks, including Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet and Science Channel in more than 180 countries and territories. He also manages all HD, Video on Demand, mobile and digital media content negotiations and distribution sales strategy across all platforms.

Prior to this role, Goodwyn served as President, Domestic Distribution where he led Discovery Communications' $1 billion U.S. content distribution business and cemented Discovery as one of the top television and content platforms in the media industry.

A 23-year veteran of Discovery Communications, Goodwyn also serves as CEO of Discovery Education, the nation's leading provider of curriculum-based digital content and professional development resources in U.S. schools. Discovery Education now reaches over half of all K-12 classrooms, one million educators and 35 million students in the U.S. supporting educators' efforts to improve student achievement. Since taking the helm in 2007, Goodwyn has transformed Discovery Education into the fastest-growing division of Discovery Communications and expanded into new products and services, most recently with the launch of the Discovery Education Techbook series in 2010. Intended to replace traditional textbooks as a new primary resource for elementary school instruction, Discovery's Techbook supports the creation of 21st century learning environments and its Science Techbook has already been adopted for use in four U.S. states.

Since Goodwyn began his Discovery career in 1987, he has spearheaded record-breaking distribution growth for each of the company's domestic channels. He was integral in turning Discovery Channel into one of the fastest-growing networks in television history, now reaching more than 100 million U.S. households. He also took TLC from 15 million to 99 million homes and guided Animal Planet to become the fastest network ever to reach 50 million U.S. subscribers.

Most recently, Goodwyn led Investigation Discovery to become the #1 fastest-growing network in the U.S. in 2010, adding more than 15 million U.S. subscribers. For these and numerous other accomplishments, Goodwyn's distribution team was ranked #1 by Beta Research for seven consecutive years as the top sales organization within the cable television industry.

In recognition of his career achievements and contributions, Goodwyn has been awarded the National Cable & Telecommunications Association's Vanguard Award, the highest honor for Young Leadership, and was inducted into the Cable Center's Cable TV Pioneer Hall of Fame and CableFAX Daily's Sales Hall of Fame. His industry and civic commitments have included board positions with the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM), CTAM's Educational Foundation, the T. Howard Foundation (diversity in media), the Alexander Youth Network and the UNC-Chapel Hill Journalism and Communications School Board of Advisors.

Goodwyn holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and lives with his wife, Leigh, and their two children in Charlotte, N.C.