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Discovery extends Zaslav’s contract

David Zaslav

US factual giant Discovery has extended the contract of its president and CEO David Zaslav by a further three years, keeping him with the company until 2023.

Zaslav joined Discovery as CEO in 2007 and oversaw its move to trade as a public company in 2008. More recently, he agreed a deal to acquire Scripps Networks Interactive, which saw Discovery become home to five of the top female-skewing networks in the US.

Zaslav, a former NBCUniversal exec, also oversees cablenets such as Investigation Discovery and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, and is credited with expanding Discovery’s range of content genres and brands through investments including Discovery Kids, the leading preschool network in Latin America.

He spearheaded the acquisition of Eurosport, which has since become home to the Olympic Games in Europe through 2024, and has acquired an array of sporting rights recently.

Zaslav, whose pay including stock and options awards last year stood at US$42.2m, will remain on a base annual salary of US$3m. However, his target bonus will rise from US$9m for 2018 to a maximum of US$22m for the coming years. His deal had been due to run out in 2020.

John Malone, a director at Discovery and chairman of Liberty Media, which has partnered with the factual-focused company on deals including the acquisition of All3Media, described Zaslav as “a visionary, a strategic builder and all around great guy.”

“Under David’s leadership, Discovery has scaled new heights, becoming the leader in sports across Europe, building the leading global IP portfolio of high-quality content and positioning Discovery for continued global growth,” Malone said. “We are lucky to have him.”

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