TV Home Forum

Discovery Channels Rebrand

(August 2011)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
WP
WillPS
Just noticed a reworked Discovery Real Time logo on the end of a trail.

Pink seems to be the dominant colour, and unless I was mistaken the Discovery brand is all in lower case.

I wonder if Home & Health will get a similar re-brand soon as well?
:-(
A former member
http://www.theidentgallery.com/misc/misc/DISCRT-2011-TRAILER-1-1.jpg

It would seem that the logo in use in France and Italy since 2009 is being tweaked and brought to the UK.
WP
WillPS
Discovery are the worst at managing their brand, it would seem.

Not only have they allowed a discontinued logo to continue to be used (for, what, 5 years?) they're now introducing a further variant!

I wonder if they'll see fit to go 16:9 at any point in the near future?
JA
JAS84
I wonder if Home & Health will get a similar re-brand soon as well?
Probably, the Latin American version recently changed to this:
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110602120552/logopedia/images/1/1c/Discovery_Home_%26_Health_logo_2011.png
WP
WillPS
Why can't Real Time use that logo? Baffles me.
ST
Stuart
Discovery are the worst at managing their brand, it would seem.

Not only have they allowed a discontinued logo to continue to be used (for, what, 5 years?) they're now introducing a further variant!


The lower case variant has been in use in the UK on Discovery Science for quite a while.
http://www.lyngsat-logo.com/logo/tv/dd/discovery_science_uk.jpg
I agree that it's inconsistent. By simply capitalising the 'D' they bring it into line with the main Discovery channel, as the font looks the same/similar.

Perhaps Discovery's problem is that they operate the same channels under so many different names in different countries: some with the Discovery branding and some without. Maybe there isn't a single person/department with overall responsibility for branding across all outlets.
Last edited by Stuart on 28 August 2011 3:13pm
TH
Thinker

Perhaps Discovery's problem is that they operate the same channels under so many different names in different countries: some with the Discovery branding and some without. Maybe there isn't a single person/department with overall responsibility for branding across all outlets.


Its not that inconsistent. In the US most of their channels have shed the Discovery moniker to develop strong independent identities.

"Internationally", there are two global brands that are strong enough to stand on their own (Animal Planet and TLC) and some more entertainment-focused local brands that don't need to be directly associated with Discovery (Liv, DMAX and Quest). The other channels are thematic niche channels in the factual and lifestyle genres, and carry the supporting "Discovery" tag.

As for the need to have a consistent look across all markets, I don't necessarily think there is one. There may even be an advantage in having branding that is tailored to different markets, especially in the lifestyle genre.
JA
JAS84
"Internationally", there are two global brands that are strong enough to stand on their own (Animal Planet and TLC)
TLC isn't. The UK version got renamed Discovery Home and Leisure in 1997, and is now Discovery Real Time.
TH
Thinker
JAS84 posted:
"Internationally", there are two global brands that are strong enough to stand on their own (Animal Planet and TLC)
TLC isn't. The UK version got renamed Discovery Home and Leisure in 1997, and is now Discovery Real Time.


That is ancient history and only applies to an old daytime block on Discovery in the UK that no one remembers (other than some TV geeks).

With the more recent global launch, TLC is introduced as a strong independent brand with a clear focus. For all the recent launches in Europe and Asia-Pacific, the TLC brand has been independent, without references to Discovery.
http://www.tlc.nl/
http://www.tlcnorge.no/
http://www.tlcsverige.se/
http://www.tlcpolska.pl/

When/if TLC is launched in the UK, I would expect it to be branded independently as well.
VM
VMPhil
No, TLC was an actual channel in the UK for several years. It was so unpopular it got renamed Discovery Home and Leisure which made it much more popular. I should remember, I was there.
TH
Thinker
No, TLC was an actual channel in the UK for several years. It was so unpopular it got renamed Discovery Home and Leisure which made it much more popular. I should remember, I was there.


Yes, perhaps I should have said "channel" instead of "block".

Anyway, that is beside my point, which was that the fact that the old TLC UK was renamed in the 1990s doesn't impact TLC's potential to be a strong brand as it currently gets launched globally.
IS
Inspector Sands
The problem with TLC in the UK I suspect was that the terrestrial channels broadcast a large range of educational programmes so it's usefulness was diminished. In the US it's moved away from educational too and is roughly the same as Real Time, although apparently with a lot of British content.

Anyway, that is beside my point, which was that the fact that the old TLC UK was renamed in the 1990s doesn't impact TLC's potential to be a strong brand as it currently gets launched globally.

I don't think they're the same TLC, I notice on it's Wikipedia page that in the Asia Pacific region TLC stands for 'Travel and Living Channel' and across the rest of Europe 'Travel and Living' has been replaced with 'TLC'

Newer posts