Discovery to set up HQ in New York

Discovery Communications will relocate its global headquarters to New York City in preparation for its forthcoming takeover of Scripps Networks Interactive and to take advantage of production and business opportunities.

David Zaslav

The company will make the move from its current base in Silver Spring, Maryland in the second half of 2019 but will maintain a presence in the region to continue to draw on the expertise of the production community that has developed during Discovery’s time there.

Additionally, Discovery will establish a national operations headquarters at Scripps’ current campus in Knoxville, Tennessee and convert its media distribution facility in Northern Virginia into a global technology hub.

The New York headquarters will bring together current Discovery staff and, pending the US$14.6bn takeover going through, Scripps’ employees currently located around New York.

David Zaslav, Discovery’s president and CEO, said the company “must evolve” with a media industry that is “increasingly global, more consumer-focused and more multi-platform.”

“The decision to move our global headquarters from its founding home is one we do not make lightly,” he said.

“We remain unwavering in our support of the Maryland and Greater Washington, DC area and we thank the leadership of the State of Maryland, Montgomery County and, most importantly, our employees for their cooperation and understanding as we make this important next step for the long-term success of Discovery.”

The Knoxville national operations headquarters will continue to house Scripps brands and creative digital teams along with corporate functions.

Founded in Landover, Maryland in 1985, Discovery moved its global headquarters to Bethesda, Maryland in 1991 and then to its current headquarters building in Silver Spring in 2003. The company employs about 1,300 people in the area, while Scripps’ Knoxville headquarters houses more than 1,000.