There were many who said this day would never come -- Discovery Channel is finally moving away from creating fake Mermaid documentaries and trying to film men eaten alive by anacondas.
Why exactly is Discovery Channel doing this now? Shows like the controversial Eaten Alive and scientifically false Megalodon: The New Evidence brought the channel huge ratings last year, which seemed to indicate the Discovery Channel wouldn't be changing their programming strategy anytime soon. The sheer number of people who took to Twitter to proclaim their newfound belief in Mermaid empires and gigantic prehistoric sharks lurking the ocean depths is testament that Discovery Channel was doing something right. Or, depending on your point of view, something terribly, terribly wrong.
But it looks like somebody over at Discovery HQ is now seeing straight. That somebody is new Discovery Channel president Rich Ross, who told TV critics today during a press tour that misleading or downright fake programming is on the way out now that he is in charge. Ross was named president of the channel in October and is looking to bring the channel back to its more genuinely educational, yet entertaining, roots.
"It's not whether I'm a fan of it," Ross said about the "fake" programming that's become popular on the channel, according to Deadline. "I don't think it's right for Discovery Channel, and think it's something that has run its course. They've done very well... but I don't think it's something that's right for us."
To show how serious he is about turning the network around, Ross hired HBO veteran John Hoffman as Discovery's new executive vice president of documentaries and specials.
"This was not just a signal, it was a message that it's very important to us, and to me, that when people are telling stories and they're delivering information that it is true and can be entertaining as well, which is mandatory," Ross said.
Ross also addressed Eaten Alive, the advertising for which made it seem as if snake enthusiast Paul Rosolie would get swallowed whole by an anaconda on film. That didn't actually come to pass, but animal rights activists, scientists and many others took offense that Discovery would even contemplate the idea of possibly gravely injuring a snake (or a person, for that matter) just for the sake of TV ratings.
Ross said the show had the right intention but "packaging that was deeply misleading." It was meant as a way for Rosolie to draw attention to the snakes that he loves. Instead it came off as a dangerous and offensive piece of sensational television that was reviled by many. In the future, Ross says he would rather air a program in which "the story is clearer and it is what you want to watch but you don't expect something at the end of it that can't possibly happen."
Hallelujah.
