DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS ANNOUNCES EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS FOR BRUCE CAMPBELL AND LEE BARTLETT
July 27, 2010
(Silver Spring, Md.) - Discovery Communications today announced two executive appointments on its senior management team:
Bruce Campbell has been named to the position of Chief Development Officer and General Counsel. Previously President of Digital Media and Corporate Development for Discovery, Campbell assumes the General Counsel role from Joe LaSala, who has decided to leave the company effective at the end of 2010. Campbell will continue to have responsibilities for global business development for Discovery and report to President and CEO David Zaslav. He will divide his time between Discovery's offices in Silver Spring, Md., and New York City.
"Bruce was one of the first people that I brought on when I joined Discovery three years ago and he has been instrumental in driving many of our key growth strategies, including our Digital Media business and joint ventures with Oprah Winfrey, Hasbro and our 3D network with Sony and IMAX," said Zaslav. "I worked with Bruce for many years at NBC and now Discovery. He is one of the smartest people I know and will be a great leader for our development and legal organizations."
Lee Bartlett is joining Discovery as Executive Vice President, Global Production Management, Business and Legal Affairs reporting to Chief Operating Officer Peter Liguori. The former ITV and FOX executive will join Discovery on September 1 and will be based in Los Angeles, Ca., while also maintaining offices in Discovery's Silver Spring, Md., and London locations.
"Having known and worked with Lee for many years, I can attest firsthand to his expertise and skill in managing and negotiating high-level production and content acquisition deals," said Liguori. "Lee's experience and innovative spirit will be a major asset to Discovery Communications as we continue to build our global brands with the highest quality nonfiction programming across our portfolio."
About Bruce Campbell
In his expanded role as Chief Development Officer and General Counsel, Campbell will continue to lead Discovery's mergers and acquisitions and development strategies, as well as assuming oversight of all legal affairs and litigation, and serving as the principal legal advisor to the company's management team and board of directors.
Since joining Discovery in 2007, Campbell has been instrumental in the origination and execution of some of the most significant acquisitions and joint ventures in the company's history, including Discovery's joint ventures with Oprah Winfrey, Hasbro and Sony/IMAX. In addition, he directed Discovery's acquisition of Cox Communications, Inc.'s 25% ownership stake in the company.
Campbell also led Discovery's acquisitions of HowStuffWorks.com, the award-winning knowledge and information website, and TreeHugger.com, the leading eco-lifestyle destination on the web. To date in 2010, under his leadership, Discovery's Digital Media business has experienced its most successful year, having recently relaunched Discovery News and lifestyle sites for Cooking, Home and Family, Style and Wedding under TLC.com, as well as securing notable new and renewing advertising sales partnerships.
Prior to joining Discovery, Campbell was Executive Vice President, Business Development for NBC Universal, where he was responsible for strategic planning, acquisitions & divestitures, joint ventures and portfolio investments. Campbell played an integral role in a series of NBC Universal's acquisitions, including Telemundo in 2002 (valued at $2.7 billion), and Vivendi Universal Entertainment in 2004 ($14 billion).
Immediately prior to leaving NBCU, Campbell represented the company in negotiating the online video joint venture with Fox that eventually became Hulu. Before his time at NBC, Campbell was a lawyer at the Los Angeles firm of O'Melveny & Myers LLP, where he specialized in corporate and securities law.
Campbell has served on the boards of HSWI, Inc., A&E Television Networks, National Geographic Channel International, Universal Orlando Theme Parks and MSNBC.com. He graduated from Princeton University in 1990, where he majored in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs, and Harvard Law School in 1993.
About Lee Bartlett
As Executive Vice President, Global Production Management, Business and Legal Affairs, Bartlett will oversee the development of Discovery's overall business affairs and production management strategies with day-to-day oversight of matters relating to the acquisition of programming content for all of Discovery's networks and digital platforms globally. His responsibilities also will include content deals, intellectual property, licensing and other issues.
A media industry veteran, Bartlett most recently served as Managing Director of ITV Studios for ITV plc, the largest commercial television network in the UK. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing ITV's UK and international production and distribution businesses, one of Europe's leading commercial production companies. Bartlett joined ITV Studios as Chief Operating Officer in April 2008 and was appointed Managing Director in July of the same year.
Prior to ITV, Bartlett served as Executive Vice President for Business Affairs at Fox Broadcasting Company since 2005. In that role, Bartlett managed the network's business affairs and production departments while overseeing a programming budget of approximately $1 billion. In addition to negotiating all entertainment related deals for FOX, he was largely responsible for overseeing the business relationship with the partners involved in "American Idol."
Prior to joining Fox Broadcasting Company, he was Executive Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs for Fox Networks Group (FNG) working with all entertainment cable networks. During his five years at FNG, Bartlett helped launch four new digital cable channels, including National Geographic Channel, and negotiated programming and talent deals for FX's award-winning dramas "The Shield," "Nip/Tuck," "Damages" and Emmy and Golden Globe Award-nominated dramas "Rescue Me" and "The Riches."
Bartlett received a Master of Law degree concentrating on international tax and finance from Georgetown University and a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University. He is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
About Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the world's number one nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 180 countries. Discovery empowers people to explore their world and satisfy their curiosity through 100-plus worldwide networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Investigation Discovery, Planet Green and HD Theater, as well as leading consumer and educational products and services, and a diversified portfolio of digital media services including HowStuffWorks.com. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.