Discovery’s Modern Slavery Statement

Discovery, Inc. (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is a global leader in real-life entertainment, serving a passionate audience of superfans around the world with content that inspires, informs and entertains.  Discovery delivers over 8,000 hours of original programming each year and has category leadership across deeply loved content genres around the world.  Available in 220 countries and territories and 50 languages, Discovery is a platform innovator, reaching viewers on all screens, including TV Everywhere products such as the GO portfolio of apps and Discovery Kids Play; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as Eurosport Player and Motor Trend OnDemand; and digital-first and social content from Group Nine Media. Discovery’s portfolio of premium brands includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, Turbo/Velocity, Animal Planet and Science Channel, as well as OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network in the U.S., Discovery Kids in Latin America and Eurosport, the leading provider of locally relevant, premium sports and Home of the Olympic Games across Europe.  For more information, please visit corporate.discovery.com and follow @DiscoveryIncTV across social platforms.

We are transforming our business following the acquisition of Scripps Networks Interactive in March 2018, but our ethical, social and environmental standards remain a core part of our culture and integral to our relationship with our suppliers.  We are taking the opportunity presented by the integration of two world-class media companies to re-examine how we help protect vulnerable groups.  We are supported in this effort by the Ethics & Compliance team, which is part of the Legal department.

As of December 31, 2017, the legacy Discovery entities employed approximately 7,000 people globally, of whom more than 1,000 were based in the UK, and the legacy Scripps entities employed approximately 3,600 people globally, of whom approximately 150 were based in the UK.  In addition, as of December 31, 2017, the legacy companies worked with an aggregate of close to 30,000 suppliers worldwide.

Policies

Discovery’s Code of Ethics defines our commitment to operate with integrity in all our business activities.  It applies to all Discovery employees, officers and directors, to all our divisions and subsidiaries around the globe and to those joint ventures that are subject to the Code.  We strive to do business with people who share our values and expect our contractors and business partners to comply with similar ethical and legal standards.  There are additional global as well as local policies underpinning the Code, including our Ethics Hotline and Policy on Handling Allegations of Non-Compliance.  These policies explain where to go for further help and advice, including how to raise concerns.

We recognise and respect all labour and employment laws, including those respecting freedom of association, privacy and equal employment opportunity, wherever we operate.  We believe that working positively and directly with employees best serves their interests.  As far as we are aware, we do not use forced or involuntary labour in our supply chains.  We seek to comply with all applicable child labour laws.

Discovery has a Global Source-to-Pay Policy that covers the process for contracting and paying suppliers.  This states that the Code of Ethics is enforced and that Discovery employees who transact business with suppliers must be kept informed about sources of supply, methods, services and materials and seek out, develop and utilize new and existing suppliers who share Discovery’s values.

Supplier Due Diligence

In 2017, there was no change to the methodology devised by Procurement, Internal Audit and Compliance Legal to identify and engage with suppliers who carry higher risks of poor recruitment and labour practices, especially in the developing world.

Specifically, Discovery continued to use its Modern Slavery Pack comprising:  (i) a letter in which we set out our commitment to ensuring transparency in our own business and tackling modern slavery through our supply chains; (ii) a Modern Slavery Act supplier self-assessment due diligence questionnaire regarding the use of forced labour and steps taken to ensure it is not used in our suppliers’ supply chains; and (iii) a supplier Code of Conduct.  This sets out our zero-tolerance approach to forced labour and our expectations of suppliers to ensure there is no forced labour in their own supply chains.  Those of our suppliers deemed to be of high inherent risk were sent this Modern Slavery Pack and required to warrant that they would comply with our supplier Code of Conduct.

The methodology also imposed on Procurement and Legal the obligation to carry out due diligence at the pre-qualification stage on suppliers deemed to be of high inherent risk. This includes questions on a range of issues, including bribery and corruption, data protection, environmental sustainability as well as slavery and human trafficking.  We also request such suppliers to provide us with information about the due diligence mechanisms they have in place with their own suppliers further down the supply chain.

Our agreements with new suppliers contain an explicit prohibition on forced and child labour, obligations to agree with our policies and rights of inspection and audit.  We also updated and amended existing agreements to include modern slavery provisions.

We are committed to collaborating with suppliers and other stakeholders to raise working standards. Where possible, we choose to work with our suppliers to resolve any potential issues rather than terminating the supplier contract and leaving the issue unresolved.

Risk Assessment

Discovery’s Ethics & Compliance team continues to conduct ongoing review of our modern slavery risk.  Our focus areas remain:

Our People

Discovery employs people both directly and through several business partners. We recognise that where workers are employed through business partners or recruitment agencies, we are not directly responsible for the employee relationship or how they manage their employees. To mitigate this risk, we require certain contractual standards, which are supported by the way we work.

Production

Discovery’s content supply chains are diverse and include commissioned content from production companies and finished content licensed from distribution and production companies.

Facilities Services

Services such as catering, security and cleaning are often subcontracted and can be filled by a high proportion of migrant workers, making them potentially higher risk in relation to slavery and human trafficking.

Products

Discovery Global Enterprises licences its trademarks to licensees who manufacture and distribute branded products such as apparel, stationery, toys and other merchandise.

Governance

Discovery has formal governance processes and committees in place for overseeing our commitment to ethical conduct.

Discovery is a mission-driven company that engages in a number of corporate social responsibility activities each year, including a day of volunteering called Impact Day.

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes the Discovery group’s slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 31 December 2017.

Date: September 2018


Previous Statement – 2017