Discovery Communications : Advertising Sales President Joe Abruzzese to Retire at End of 2016; Discovery Veteran Ben Price to Lead U.S. Ad Sales Organization

(New York, NY) - Discovery Communications today announced that legendary advertising sales chief Joe Abruzzese will retire at the end of 2016 after a remarkable 46-year career in the media industry, the past 14 years as president of advertising sales for Discovery. Longtime Discovery ad sales executive Ben Price has been promoted to lead the company's U.S. advertising sales division.

'Joe has defined what it means to lead with integrity, has made clients into friends, built the best ad sales organization in the business - including our new leader Ben Price - and created fantastic value for Discovery and our shareholders,' said David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery Communications. 'He is a great person, an incredible friend and on behalf of the Discovery leadership team, our board of directors and the entire Discovery family we say thank you, Joe. You are the gold standard.'

'I am lucky to have found my way into this wonderful business more than 45 years ago, and to have worked for the best media companies in the world,' said Abruzzese. 'I've loved this industry from the moment I set foot in 30 Rock many years ago and still love it today. I've established relationships with clients and agency partners who have turned into lifelong friends. I leave Discovery feeling proud of what the team has accomplished; confident in Ben's leadership to take the organization forward; and thankful for the opportunities I've had here.'

Since joining Discovery Communications in 2002, Abruzzese has transformed the sales efforts for the company, successfully leading sales for the company's portfolio of U.S. networks and landing numerous unprecedented cross-network deals. He also oversaw the roll out of the sales strategy for the launch of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network and regularly outperformed peers in the marketplace. Under his leadership, the organization ranked #1 in sales representative competence for five years in a row and #1 on evaluation of Upfront presentation for nine of the past 10 years. (Source: Beta Research Advertising Executive Suite)

Before joining Discovery, Abruzzese was head of ad sales at CBS for 11 years managing the company's entertainment, sports, daytime, news and late night divisions as well as the UPN networks and CBS internet sales. He was instrumental in spearheading landmark industry deals including securing corporate sponsorships to launch the hit series Survivor. Abruzzese began working at CBS in 1980 and held executive positions in sales for daytime, children's, sports and late night before taking the helm leading network sales. Prior to CBS, he worked at NBC for 10 years in sports sales, planning and business affairs. Abruzzese began his career at the J.P. Stevens Company in New York.

Abruzzese has garnered several industry honors during his remarkable career. He was inducted into Broadcasting & Cable's Hall of Fame in 2011, named a Media Maven by Advertising Age in 2000 and for his philanthropic and charitable commitments, was honored with the Chuck Fruit Award of Excellence by the National Kidney Foundation in 2010. He also sits on the board of directors for the National Kidney Foundation of Greater New York and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Upon Abruzzese's departure, Ben Price a 27-year Discovery veteran, will assume the role of president of U.S. ad sales. Price will be based in New York and report to Chief Commercial Officer Paul Guyardo.

'With 27 years at Discovery, Ben is incredibly well-prepared for this important role,' said Guyardo. 'His knowledge of our clients, company and ad sales team is stellar. I wish Joe all the best and look forward to working with Ben to drive long-term growth for our advertisers and our business.'

'I am honored to take this position,' added Price. 'Joe is an incredible leader, friend and mentor and I have been proud to work with him for the past 14 years. I look forward to continuing his legacy of providing the highest level of service to clients and value to the company, as well as to lead the best ad sales team in the business in creating exciting new opportunities for Discovery and our partners.'

Price joined Discovery Communications in 1989, rising through the ranks from Account Executive to Director, Ad Sales, Western Region, to Vice President, Senior Vice President and most recently, Executive Vice President, National Ad Sales splitting his time between New York and Los Angeles, including oversight on Discovery's regional offices and digital ad sales. At Discovery, he has been instrumental in securing major partnerships and has a stellar reputation for establishing strong business relationships with clients and agencies across the regions. Price began his career in ad sales at Turner Broadcasting. He was recently named as Cablefax's Sales Mentor of the Year and last year was honored with the John Marin Memorial Award by the Ad Relief of Greater Los Angeles. Price has been an active member of numerous industry organizations, including thinkLA as a board member and Hollywood Radio and Television Society.

About Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the leader in global entertainment reaching 3 billion cumulative viewers in more than 220 countries and territories. Discovery satisfies curiosity, entertains and inspires viewers with high-quality content through global brands, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet, Science and Turbo/Velocity, as well as U.S. joint venture network OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, and through the Discovery Digital Networks portfolio, including Seeker and SourceFed. Discovery owns Eurosport, the leading pan-regional sports entertainment destination across Europe and Asia-Pacific. Discovery also is a leading provider of educational products and services to schools, including an award-winning series of K-12 digital textbooks, through Discovery Education. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.