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Discovery Education » Executive Bios » Bill Goodwyn
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Bill Goodwyn

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CEO of Domestic Content Distribution, President and CEO of Discovery Education

 

A 30-year veteran of the cable television industry and 27-year veteran of Discovery Communications, Bill Goodwyn serves as CEO of Domestic Content Distribution and President and CEO of Discovery Education.

Mr. Goodwyn oversees all content distribution strategy, sales and marketing activity on behalf of Discovery's U.S. content portfolio encompassing more than 13 networks and their high-definition and video on demand extensions including Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery and Science Channel and leads the company's fast-growing Discovery Education division, the nation's top provider of curriculum-based digital content and professional development resources in U.S. schools.

Since Mr. Goodwyn began his Discovery career in 1987, he has grown Discovery Communications' U.S. content distribution business to exceed $1B, built the #1 ranked sales and distribution team in cable television and cemented Discovery as one of the top television and content platforms in the media industry. Named head of North America distribution for all of Discovery's networks in 1994, he has spearheaded record-breaking distribution growth for each of the company's domestic channels, turning Discovery Channel into one of the greatest network growth stories in television history; now reaching 100 million U.S. households. He also took TLC from 15 million to 99 million homes; guided Animal Planet to become the quickest network ever to reach 50 million U.S. subscribers; and built Travel Channel into a fully distributed asset reaching over 90M subscribers.  Most recently, Mr. Goodwyn led Investigation Discovery to become the #1 fastest-growing network in the U.S. for three consecutive years, which now reaches over 86M homes, and also built emerging network platforms for OWN as well as Military Channel (now American Heroes Channel), Destination America, Hub (now Discovery Family Channel) and Science Channel, the latter two of which were among the fastest-growing networks in the industry in 2012.

In 2011 Mr. Goodwyn was named President of Global Distribution where he was responsible for overseeing 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.

Under Mr. Goodwyn's leadership, Discovery Education pioneered the development and implementation of digital textbooks.  Designed to replace traditional, hardcopy textbooks as the primary resource for classroom instruction, Discovery Education's engaging digital textbooks, or Techbooks, are among the first to be adopted in multiple U.S. states. In addition, Mr. Goodwyn launched the company's efforts to forge strategic alliances with Fortune 500 companies, foundations, and associations supporting public education initiatives in the fields of STEM, sustainability, health, financial literacy and more.

Acknowledging his passion and commitment to excellence and innovation in education, EdTech Digest recognized Mr. Goodwyn with their prestigious Leadership Award.  Under his stewardship, Discovery Education has been recognized with a number of industry honors, including awards from the Association of Educational publishers, Software & Information Industry Association, ComputED Learning Lab, Ed Tech Digest, Learning Magazine, and Tech & Learning Magazine.  Discovery Education has also been named an Edison Award Finalist and has been named by Fast Company as one of the 10 Most Innovative Companies in Education.

Goodwyn is currently a trustee for the Committee for Economic Development (CED), the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) CEO Members, the Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) Foundation Board, CTAM's Educational Foundation, the T. Howard Foundation (diversity in media), the UNC-Chapel Hill Journalism and Communications School Board of Advisors and is on the advisory board for EdWeek Market Brief.  Mr. Goodwyn previously served on the boards of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) and the Alexander Youth Network.  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.

In recognition of his career achievements, Mr. Goodwyn was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in 2013, was named one of the Cable Center's Cable TV Pioneers, and has been awarded the National Cable & Telecommunications Association's Vanguard Award, the highest honor for Young Leadership.

Mr. 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.