Faced with an erosion of automotive and financial ad dollars, Discovery Channel has subtly recalibrated its target demos, placing greater emphasis on its audience of 18-49-year-olds in a bid to draw a more expansive client base.

In the last two quarters, Discovery has enjoyed a surge of business from marketers looking to reach the core TV demo, increasing its dollar volume from adults 18-49 advertisers by 35 percent in second- and third-quarter 2009, versus the same stretch a year ago. Clients shooting for men 18-49 have also come running, as those targeted dollars are up 75 percent in the period.

Categories that once viewed Discovery as something of an older-skewing outlet have been drawn to the network’s personality-driven unscripted series, from the survivalist adventure Man vs. Wild to the grit-and-bear-it endurance test, Dirty Jobs. In Q2 and Q3, Discovery grew its movie dollars by 153 percent, video/DVD volume by 205 percent and its telecom take 143 percent, while bringing in new client Sprint.

Discovery began mapping out its two-front strategy in Q1, when the recession was in full bloom and auto dollars were beginning to deliquesce. “We knew we had to start reaching out to the 18-49 advertisers because the endemics just weren’t getting it done,” said John Ford, president and general manager, Discovery Channel.

Last year, 18-49 dollars accounted for just 22 percent of the channel’s overall ad volume. Ford credits Discovery senior vp, ad sales Scott Felenstein with leading the charge to lift the net’s profile among younger-tilted categories.

“We had to change perceptions. We had a great story to tell with shows like Deadliest Catch and Dirty Jobs, which have helped drive our median age to that 40 sweet spot,” Felenstein said. “Sixty percent of the available dollars in the TV marketplace are devoted to [viewers] 30-49, so if we can play for the older end of 18-49 and the younger end of 25-54, we’re in a good position.”



Joe Abruzzese, Discovery ad sales president, noted that the wins in the center of the demo Venn diagram aren’t coming at the expense of the endemics, which are beginning to rebound. “The strategy is to appeal to 18-49 as an additive without impacting the brand or alienating the traditional viewer,” Abruzzese said, adding that Discovery’s trademark natural history programming is propping up the tent on Sunday nights.

Nielsen ratings suggest there’s a certain kind of demo symbiosis at work. In Q3, Discovery grew its prime-time delivery of adults 18-49 by 7 percent, averaging 660,000, while adults 25-54 were up 11 percent, to 659,000.

An added bonus: Discovery generally manages to sidestep the content issues that are often the price of doing business with a younger audience. “When you work with Discovery, you always know you’re going to be partnering with quality content,” said Denise Ocasio, managing partner, group director, national broadcast at Mindshare. “That lends itself to making it an easier sell to the client.”

Last year, Discovery booked $357.4 million in net ad revenue, per SNL Kagan. Parent Discovery Communications lifted its sales total 1 percent in Q2 ’09, to $290 million.

Oppenheimer & Co. anticipates a 2 percent rise in Q3 to $254 million over Q3 ’08.