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57-633: Karl Wallenda was born in Magdeburg , Germany , in 1905 to an old circus family, and began performing at the age of six. While still in his teens he answered an ad for a "hand balancer with courage." His employer, Louis Weitzman, taught him the trade. In 1922, Karl put together his own act with his brother Herman, Joseph Geiger, and a teenage girl, Helen Kreis , who eventually became his wife. The act toured Europe for several years, and when John Ringling saw them perform in Cuba , he quickly hired them to perform at

114-521: A 1978 made-for-TV movie starring Karl Wallenda, depicts the act's comeback after a fatal accident involving several family members during a performance. Wallenda was killed in a high wire accident in San Juan, Puerto Rico just 38 days after it was first broadcast. On July 18, 1970, a 65-year-old Wallenda performed a high-wire walk, also known as a skywalk , across the Tallulah Gorge , a gorge formed by

171-510: A new logo, maintaining a refreshed version of the previous globe and D monogram. The new branding is accompanied by another new imaging campaign, "The World is Ours", which features scenes of Discovery personalities singing the Blue Swede version of " Hooked on a Feeling ". The static version of the globe icon uses a non-standard projection that shows all continents, reflecting Discovery's presence as an international brand. Discovery en Español

228-406: A number of countries, Discovery's channels are available on digital satellite platforms with multiple language soundtracks or subtitles including Spanish, German, Russian, Czech , Hindi , Tamil , Telugu , Bengali , Dutch , Portuguese, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Turkish , Greek, Polish , Hungarian, Romanian , Arabic, Slovene , Japanese, Korean and Serbian . In 2011,

285-412: A rehearsal of the troupe's eight-person pyramid high wire act for Circus Sarasota (an attempt at a new Guinness World Record for height) went awry when the pyramid collapsed, plummeting five of the performers to the ground while three others, including Nik Wallenda, managed to cling to the wire. Miraculously no one was killed, but all five who fell were severely injured: Nik's sister Lijana Wallenda suffered

342-467: A separate Tamil -language channel was launched. In Bulgaria , Discovery has, since 2000–2001, displayed Bulgarian subtitles by all cable providers and since 2010 – with Bulgarian dubbing for some shows. In Australia, the Discovery Channel is part of a six-channel package (not including timeshifts) on digital subscription television, available on Foxtel , Optus TV and AUSTAR . In New Zealand,

399-500: A walk between the two towers of the ten-story Condado Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico , on a wire stretched 121 ft (37 metres) above the pavement. As a result of high winds and an improperly secured wire, he lost his balance and fell during the attempt. Wallenda was pronounced dead after his body arrived at the hospital. This was not viewed on most television stations, but a film crew from local station WAPA-TV in San Juan taped

456-544: Is also available on digital satellite platforms in Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia (sometimes requiring an additional fee). In Poland, nc+ broadcasts the programs dubbed in Polish and in original English. A few other channels from Discovery are also in offer, like Discovery Historia, launched in cooperation with Polish broadcaster TVN , which later ended. In Spain, the channel shares a schedule and programs with Portugal and

513-673: Is an American pay television channel that was launched as the Spanish-language version of the Discovery Channel. It is operated by the Latin American division of Warner Bros. Discovery International in Miami, Florida . As of February 2015, approximately 6,476,000 American households (5.6% of households with television) receive Discovery en Español. Discovery Channel reaches 431 million homes in 170 countries. Discovery Communications currently offers 29 network brands in 33 languages. In

570-546: Is available on most satellite and cable platforms, making it possible to broadcast both in Spanish and Portuguese. In Spain, all programs are dubbed; whereas in Portugal, most of them are subtitled. In addition, Portugal has three Discovery-branded channels: Discovery Turbo (focusing on motorsports), Discovery Science (focusing on science and technology) and Discovery Civilization (focusing on historical events). These channels follow

627-555: Is available to approximately 71,000,000 pay television households in the United States-down from its peak of 99,000,000 in 2011. John Hendricks founded the channel and its parent company, Cable Educational Network Inc., in 1982. Several investors (including the BBC , Allen & Company , and Venture America) raised $ 5 million in start-up capital to launch the network. The Discovery Channel began broadcasting on June 17, 1985. It

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684-547: Is the policy of all Dutch television stations. Some programs and most promotions and program announcements have a Dutch voice-over. In Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, a Flemish Discovery Channel launched (previously the Dutch version was available for IPTV, DVB-C and DVB-S) on cable (and digital) television on October 1, 2009. In Italy, the Discovery Channel (and HD) is distributed via satellite by Sky Italia as part of

741-576: The Leo Burnett Building . After accomplishing this feat, he successfully crossed the two towers of Marina City while wearing a blindfold in cold conditions with strong winds. He set two world records, one for the highest incline—19 degrees between the west tower and the Leo Burnett building—and one for the highest blindfolded wire walk, between the two towers of Marina City. Both crossings were broadcast live on Discovery Channel . In February 2017,

798-554: The Republic of Ireland , the UK version of Discovery Channel is available on most cable providers in that country, but with local advertisements. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Discovery Channel is part of the Premiere digital network and supplies specific programs to other networks like ZDF and kabel eins . Discovery Communications is also owner of the documentary-channel XXP. The channel

855-617: The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus . In 1928, they debuted at Madison Square Garden . The act performed without a net (it had been lost in transit) and the crowd gave them a standing ovation. In 1944, while the Wallendas were performing in Hartford, Connecticut , a circus fire broke out, killing over 168 people . None of the Wallendas were hurt. In the following years, Karl developed some of their most impressive acts, such as

912-653: The Tallulah River in Georgia . An estimated 30,000 people watched Wallenda perform two headstands as he crossed the quarter-mile-wide gap. In 1974, at 69 years old, he broke a world skywalk distance record of 1,800 feet (550 m) at Kings Island , a record that stood until July 4, 2008, when his great-grandson, Nik Wallenda , completed a 2,000-foot skywalk (610 m) at the same location. Despite being involved in several tragedies in his family's acts, Wallenda continued with his stunts. In 1978, at age 73, Wallenda attempted

969-579: The University of Wisconsin-Madison . The channel began to shift its focus in the early 2000s to attract a broader audience, by incorporating more reality-based series focusing on automotive, occupations, and speculative investigation series; though the refocused programming strategy proved popular, Discovery Channel's ratings began to decline by the middle of the decade. Some critics said such shows strayed from Discovery's intention of providing more educationally based shows aimed at helping viewers learn about

1026-534: The 2004 Tour de France , Discovery Channel announced it would become the primary sponsor of a professional bicycling team starting in 2005, featuring the then-seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong , whose wins were voided after he was proven to have cheated via doping. After the 2007 victory with the Spaniard Alberto Contador , Discovery Channel discontinued the cycling sponsorship. The Discovery Channel stores first opened in 1995. By 1997,

1083-580: The Australian version of Discovery is broadcast on SKY Network Television . The Canadian version of Discovery was established in 1995, and is currently owned by a joint venture between Bell Media (via the subsidiary CTV Specialty Television; ESPN Inc. is a minority partner in this subsidiary due its ties to sports channel TSN ) and Discovery Inc. The channel airs similar programming to its U.S. counterpart, but also airs domestically produced programs to comply with local broadcasting regulations (which, in

1140-574: The Discovery Channel Airport Stores, and the website remains in operation. Discovery Channel funded the construction of the Lowell Discovery Telescope , in partnership with Lowell Observatory . Discovery.com is the Discovery Channel's official website, which primarily provides information on the channel's programming and additional content, including articles, tied to those shows. The Discovery Channel's first logo

1197-609: The Discovery Communications headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland , armed with a handgun. Lee fired at least one shot and held several employees hostage; he was later shot dead by police. Lee had published criticisms of the network at Savetheplanetprotest.com. In December 2015, Discovery Communications launched its TV Everywhere service, Discovery Go, which features live and video-on-demand content from Discovery Channel and eight of its sister networks. Programming on

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1254-534: The Middle East and Turkey. Discovery Channel and sibling channels Discovery World , TLC , Investigation Discovery and Animal Planet are available on the DStv/Multichoice platform. In August 2008, it was reported by The Consumerist that Discovery Channel had preempted an episode of MythBusters examining RFID security in regard to its implementation in credit cards before its original broadcast because

1311-750: The United Kingdom, Discovery Channel UK airs some common programs as the U.S. version, including MythBusters , American Chopper , How It's Made and Deadliest Catch . The channel is carried as a basic subscription channel on the SKYdigital satellite service and digital cable provider Virgin Media . Discovery UK also operates Discovery HD, Discovery Knowledge, Discovery Turbo, Discovery Science, Animal Planet, DMAX, Discovery Real Time, Discovery Home & Health, Discovery Travel & Leisure and Discovery Shed. Many of these channels also have timeshifted versions. In

1368-566: The United States, behind now-sibling channel TBS and The Weather Channel ; it is available in 409 million households worldwide, through its U.S. flagship channel and its various owned or licensed television channels internationally. It initially provided documentary television programming focused primarily on popular science , technology, and history, but by the 2010s had expanded into reality television and pseudo-scientific entertainment. As of November 2023 , Discovery Channel

1425-497: The age of 85. Karl Wallenda Karl Wallenda ( / w ɔː ˈ l ɛ n d ə / ; January 21, 1905 – March 22, 1978) was a German-American high wire artist . He was the founder of The Flying Wallendas , a daredevil circus troupe whose members performed dangerous stunts far above the ground, often without a safety net. Wallenda was born in 1905 in Magdeburg , Germany . His parents were Kunigunde (Jameson) and Engelbert Wallenda, and he began performing with his family at

1482-429: The age of six. The Great Wallendas were noted throughout Europe for their four-man pyramid and cycling on the high wire . The act moved to the United States in 1928, performing as freelancers. In 1947, they developed the unequaled three-tier 7-Man Pyramid. Karl Wallenda had the idea since 1938, but it took until 1946, when he and his brother Hermann developed it and had the right acrobats for it. The Great Wallendas ,

1539-535: The campaign was intended to "showcase our earned place in the greater pop culture landscape". In August 2013 (coinciding with Shark Week ), the aforementioned monogram became the main on-air logo as part of a new imaging campaign, "Grab Life By the Globe", which was designed to emphasize the channel's current focus on personality-driven programming. The logo was portrayed in promos with visual effects relevant to their respective program. On April 1, 2019, Discovery unveiled

1596-686: The chain had 17 US and 1 UK stores. At that time, the chain was building a flagship store in Washington, DC, with three levels themed to various environments—sea and underground, land and outer space, aviation and science—to be opened in February 1998, with another flagship store in San Francisco to be opened in November 1998. On May 17, 2007, Discovery Communications announced it would close its standalone and mall-based stores. Hudson Group will continue to operate

1653-526: The cultural heritages of Malaysia , mistakenly featured Balinese Pendet dancers . This prompted outrage from Balinese dancers, who posted messages demanding that Malaysia apologize over the misinformation, which then sparked a series of street protests. Further demands were made from the local governments, cultural historians and the tourism ministry in Indonesia for Malaysia to clarify the situation. The Malaysian government reportedly offered an apology, which

1710-441: The documentary pack. In addition, Italy has four Discovery-branded channels: Discovery Science, Discovery Real Time, Discovery Animal Planet and Discovery Travel and Living. In Bulgaria , Czech Republic , Croatia , Hungary , Poland , Romania , Slovakia , Serbia and Slovenia , Discovery Channel is carried by most cable television and IPTV providers with all the content subtitled in the respective languages. Additionally, it

1767-454: The episode would upset credit card companies, who are major advertisers on Discovery Channel. It was later determined that the decision not to investigate the issue was made by Beyond Productions , the MythBusters production company, and was not made by Discovery Channel or their advertising department. An ad promoting Enigmatic Malaysia , a special series on the network meant to highlight

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1824-432: The fall with narration by anchorman Guillermo José Torres . Discovery Channel Discovery Channel , known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery , is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery , a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav . As of June 2012 , Discovery Channel was the third most widely distributed subscription channel in

1881-591: The first aerialist to walk directly over Niagara Falls on June 15, 2012, from the United States into Canada . Wearing a safety harness as required by ABC television , he crossed at the river's widest point. Nik Wallenda is the first aerialist to walk over the Little Colorado River Gorge at the Grand Canyon . The event was broadcast live on the Discovery Channel . He used a 2-inch wire and made

1938-604: The flagship Discovery Channel in the U.S. is primarily focused on reality television series, such as speculative investigation (with shows such as MythBusters , Unsolved History , and Best Evidence ), automobiles, and occupations (such as Dirty Jobs and Deadliest Catch ). A popular annual feature on the channel is Shark Week , which airs on Discovery during the summer months. Discovery has also featured documentaries specifically aimed at families and younger audiences. Other popular programs have included How It's Made , Cash Cab , and Man vs. Wild . Shortly before

1995-450: The internal market, interrupted its carriage of Discovery Communications channels, including Discovery Channel. The CEO of Discovery Communications Mark Hollinger sent an open letter in his attempt to counteract the action of RCS&RDS, attracting the attention to the negation of the alleged right of the viewer to choose the viewed channels. In turn, RCS&RDS issued a press statement accusing of hypocrisy Hollinger's discourse attentive at

2052-496: The journey without a harness or safety net. The canyon is 1,400 feet (430 m) wide and 1,500 feet (460 m) deep. There are several branches of the Wallendas performing today, comprising most of Karl's grandchildren. They still perform regularly and have achieved recognition in Guinness World Records . On November 2, 2014, Nik successfully crossed between two Chicago skyscrapers: the west tower of Marina City and

2109-464: The main Discovery Channel, including Discovery Turbo, Discovery Science, Discovery Home & Health and Discovery Travel & Living . The Philippines has its own semifeed derived from the Southeast Asian channel, in which offers regional variations with local advertisements during the commercial breaks. In South Africa, Discovery Channel shares a schedule and programming with all of Africa,

2166-488: The metal rigging. Nonetheless, Karl decided to go on. He repeated the pyramid act in 1963 and 1977. Karl continued performing with a smaller group, and doing solo acts. Karl crossed the Tallulah Gorge in Georgia on a high wire on July 18, 1970. On March 22, 1978, during a promotional walk in San Juan , Puerto Rico , Karl fell from the wire and died. It was between the towers of Condado Plaza Hotel , one hundred feet high. He

2223-552: The needs of viewers and attracted attention to the fact that, during negotiations, the main preoccupations of the Discovery representatives was maintaining as high as possible tariffs and monetary gains". After four years of absence, on December 30, 2016, the Discovery Channel and its sister channel TLC returned to the RCS&;RDS CATV, IPTV and DTH networks. Eaten Alive was a television program in which wildlife filmmaker Paul Rosolie

2280-658: The news program Vremya . The channel also carried two teletext services over its VBI during this time, Infotext (offering news from the Associated Press , as well as information about agribusiness and agriculture, including commodity prices from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on a 15-minute delay), and Datavizion (offering trivia, strange news stories, games and a satellite TV guide); both services originated from WHA-TV in Madison, Wisconsin , and were run by

2337-458: The past, included the daily science newsmagazine Daily Planet cancelled in 2018). Some of its original series (such as, most prominently, How It's Made ) have been picked up in the U.S. by Discovery's sister networks (such as Science Channel ), but others have not necessarily aired on Discovery's networks. Since 2018, the channel has increasingly aired blocks of fiction programming with science- or technology-oriented themes. Discovery Channel

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2394-675: The same model as the original Discovery Channel, except for the absence of advertising. Spanish advertisements are broadcast on the Portuguese feed, non-subtitled or dubbed. In South East Asia , Discovery Channel is available on digital subscription television. Discovery Channel Asia still shows crime programs (such as Most Evil and The FBI Files ). Many programs feature development and society in Asian countries, especially in India and China. Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore have other channels branched from

2451-470: The seven-person chair pyramid. They continued performing those acts until January 30, 1962, when, while performing at the Shrine Circus at Detroit 's State Fair Coliseum , the front man on the wire, Dieter Schepp, faltered, and the pyramid collapsed. Three men fell to the ground, killing Richard Faughnan, Wallenda's son-in-law; and nephew Dieter Schepp. Karl injured his pelvis, and his adopted son, Mario ,

2508-494: The slogan was changed in the early 2000s to "Entertain Your Brain". In 1995, the channel's name was simplified to "Discovery Channel", dropping "The" from its name. A globe became a permanent part of the logo, and an underline was added to the bottom of the logo On March 31, 2008, Discovery unveiled a new logo, which took effect on-air on April 15, 2008 (coinciding with the fourth season premiere of Deadliest Catch ). The new logo

2565-548: The stunt, both Wallendas used safety harnesses, despite the family's long-standing objection to the use of safety devices. Although, unlike in Nik Wallenda's earlier Niagara Falls walk, they were not required, he admitted he felt the use of a harness was important for Lijana's first high-wire walk since her 2017 fall. Carla Wallenda, the last surviving child of the founder of the troupe, died in Sarasota, Florida , on March 6, 2021, at

2622-464: The world around them. In 2005, Discovery changed its programming focus to include more popular science and historical themes. The network's ratings eventually recovered in 2006. On January 4, 2006, Discovery Communications announced that anchor Ted Koppel , executive producer Tom Bettag, and eight other former staff members from the ABC newsmagazine Nightline were joining Discovery Channel. The network

2679-494: The worst injuries, breaking nearly every bone in her face. On June 23, 2019, Nik and Lijana became the first individuals to successfully cross New York's Times Square on a tightrope, 25 stories above street level. The duo crossed from opposite ends of the wire, which measured 1,300 feet (400 meters) long and was suspended between 1 Times Square and 2 Times Square. The stunt was broadcast live on ABC and marked Lijana's return to her first live performance since her accident. For

2736-478: Was 73. Nik Wallenda completed the walk on June 4, 2011, with his mother, Delilah. On March 5, 1993, Karl's grandson, Mario B. Wallenda (not to be confused with Karl's adopted son), died from AIDS complications at the age of 36. He had tested positive for HIV in July 1990. On October 15, 2008, Nik broke the world record for the highest and longest bike ride on a high wire live on NBC 's Today . Nik Wallenda became

2793-643: Was a television screen picturing a map of the world. For two decades, starting in 1987, the channel's logo incorporated the Discovery wordmark rendered in the Aurora Bold Condensed font with a circular shape in front of it. The circle usually took the form of a rising sun, or an animated version of the Vitruvian Man . Discovery Channel's previous slogans had been "Explore Your World" and "There's No Thrill Like Discovery." Keeping with its changing focus away from strictly educational programming toward reality TV,

2850-517: Was bought in the spring of 2006 from its former shareholders Spiegel TV and "dctp". All programs are dubbed into German. The channel is now known as " DMAX ", presumably to associate the channel with Discovery. In the Netherlands, the Discovery Channel is included on most cable, IPTV and DVB-T providers. Nearly all of the programs are broadcast in their original language, but they are subtitled in Dutch as

2907-494: Was designed by Viewpoint Creative, and integrated Discovery's long-time globe iconography into the "D" lettering of the wordmark, creating a monogram that was usable as a standalone icon. The launch was accompanied by a new advertising campaign, "The World is Just Awesome", which featured scenes of Discovery personalities singing an adapted version of the song "I Love the Mountains". Discovery Channel president John Ford explained that

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2964-444: Was initially available to 156,000 households and broadcast for 12 hours each day between 3 p.m. and 3 a.m. About 75 percent of its program content had never been broadcast on U.S. television before. In its early years, the channel's focus centered on educational programming in the form of cultural and wildlife documentaries, and science and historical specials . It also broadcast some Soviet programming during this time, including

3021-657: Was launched in 1995 in India broadcasting originally in English and Hindi. In June 2010, a Bengali audio track was added to the channel as well as a Telugu track in October 21 of that same year. On August 15, 2011, a separate Tamil-language channel was launched with an estimate audience of 10 million households. Discovery recently launched Discovery Plus, a new streaming service for India priced at ₹300 per year, offering content in eight languages— English , Hindi , Tamil , Telugu , Malayalam , Kannada , Bengali and Marathi . In

3078-666: Was nominated for seven Primetime Emmy Awards that year for shows including The Flight that Fought Back (a documentary about the hijacking of United Airlines Flight 93 during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001) and Deadliest Catch (a reality series about a group of seafood fishermen). In 2007, Discovery Channel's top series included the Emmy Award– and Peabody Award–winning Planet Earth , Dirty Jobs , MythBusters , and Deadliest Catch . Discovery Channel's 2008 lineup included Fight Quest and Smash Lab . On September 1, 2010, 43-year-old James Jay Lee entered

3135-428: Was paralyzed from the waist down. Dieter's sister, Jana Schepp, let go of the wire to fall into the quickly-raised safety net, but bounced off and suffered a head injury. Other tragedies include when Wallenda's sister-in-law, Yetta, fell 50 feet to her death in 1963, after fainting during her act. Wallenda's son-in-law, Richard ("Chico") Guzman, was killed in 1972 after touching a live electric wire while holding part of

3192-578: Was purportedly going to be "eaten alive" by an anaconda . It aired on December 7, 2014. When the special aired, the anaconda attacked Rosolie but did not swallow him, as its title had implied, prompting numerous complaints of a bait and switch . In February 2024, a group of US congressmen sent a letter to the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery criticizing World's Ultimate Frontier , a joint production between Discovery and Chinese state media outlet China Global Television Network (CGTN), for "whitewashing genocide" of

3249-526: Was rejected by the Indonesian tourism minister, since the apology was given informally by phone, the Indonesian tourism minister demanded a written apology to make it more accountable. Shark Week , Discovery's annual shark-themed programming block, has been criticized for sensationalism and the promotion of junk science . In November 2012, the Romanian RCS&;RDS , the largest company of its kind on

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