Combination to Accelerate Growth Across Linear, Digital and Short-Form Platforms Around the World and Create a Global Leader in Real Life Entertainment

• Combined company will have nearly 20% of ad-supported pay-TV viewership in the U.S. • Becomes home to five of the top female networks in ad-supported pay-TV with over 20% share of women watching primetime in the U.S.

• Optionality for next generation growth opportunities through exploitation of brands, formats, talent and 8,000 hours of original programming annually
• Over 7 billion monthly streams creates leading short-form, mobile-first digital player
• Significant cost synergies estimated at approximately $350 million
• Expected to be accretive to Adjusted Earnings per Share and Free Cash Flow in first year after close
• Investor call scheduled for Monday, July 31, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET)
Silver Spring, Md. and Knoxville, Tenn. - Discovery Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: DISCA,

Discovery and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNI) (“Scripps”) announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for Discovery to acquire Scripps in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at $14.6 billion, or $90 per share, based on Discovery’s Friday, July 21 closing price. The purchase price represents a premium of 34% to Scripps’ unaffected share price as of Tuesday, July 18, 2017. The transaction is expected to close by early 2018.

“This is an exciting new chapter for Discovery. Scripps is one of the best run media companies in the world with terrific assets, strong brands and popular talent and formats. Our business is about great storytelling, authentic characters and passionate super fans. We believe that by coming together with Scripps, we will create a stronger, more flexible and more dynamic media company with a global content engine that can be fully optimized and monetized across our combined networks, products and services in every country around the world,” said David Zaslav, President and CEO, Discovery Communications.

“Through the passion and dedication of our incredible employees, and with the support of the Scripps family, we have built a lifestyle content company that touches the lives of consumers every single day,” said Kenneth W. Lowe, Chairman, President & CEO, Scripps Networks Interactive. “This agreement with Discovery presents an unmatched opportunity for Scripps to grow its leading lifestyle brands across the world and on new and emerging channels including
short-form, direct-to-consumer and streaming platforms.”

New Innovator Across a Broad Portfolio of Entertainment Assets

Together, Discovery and Scripps will offer a complementary and dynamic suite of brands. The combined company will produce approximately 8,000 hours of original programming annually, be home to approximately 300,000 hours of library content, and will generate a combined 7 billion short-form video streams monthly, demonstrating its commitment to delivering content as a top short-form provider.

Combined, Discovery and Scripps will have nearly 20% share of ad-supported pay-TV audiences in the U.S. Additionally, the combined company will be home to five of the top pay-TV networks for women and will account for over 20% share of women watching primetime pay-TV in the U.S.

The Combined Portfolio’s Brands Will Include:

Discovery: Discovery Channel, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet, Science and Turbo/Velocity, as well as OWN in the U.S., Discovery Kids in Latin America, and Eurosport, the leading provider of locally relevant, premium sports and Home of the Olympic Games across Europe.

Scripps: HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, DIY Network, Cooking Channel and Great American Country, as well as TVN, a premiere multi-platform provider of entertainment, lifestyle and news content in Poland; UKTV, an independent commercial joint venture with BBC Worldwide; Asian Food Channel, the first pan- regional TV food network in Asia; and lifestyle
channel Fine Living Network.

International Growth Opportunities

The combination will extend Scripps’ brands, programming and talent to a broader international audience through Discovery’s best-in-class global distribution, sales and languaging infrastructure. Discovery sees strong opportunities to strengthen its existing global female networks with select content from Food Network, HGTV and all the Scripps brands. Scripps also has a strong position in key international growth markets, including the U.K. and Poland, and will help fuel Discovery’s existing content pipeline in growth areas like Discovery’s Home and Health network in Latin America.

Social, Mobile and Non-linear Growth Opportunities

The combined company will deliver 7 billion monthly short-form streams, bringing together Scripps’ established expertise in short-form video creation with Discovery’s investment in Group Nine Media to create a new scale player with a strong ability to compete for audiences and ad dollars. The combination will give Discovery an outstanding presence on new video and social media platforms. Additionally, Scripps Lifestyle Studios will become a key component of Discovery’s content engine, making the company a leader in key strategic areas such as datadriven ad sales, endemic advertising, and branded entertainment solutions. Discovery’s added scale, content engine and multiple brand offerings will present a compelling  3 opportunity for new digital distribution partners, including mobile, OTT, and direct-to-consumer platforms and offerings.

Synergies

The combination is expected to create significant cost synergies, estimated at approximately $350 million. The deal is expected to be accretive to Adjusted Earnings per Share and to Free Cash Flow in the first year after close.

Channel to Kick-off August with 10 Hours of Top European Football Action

DSPORT, a premium sports TV channel by Discovery Communications India, has announced the acquisition of the broadcast rights of the fifth edition of the Audi Cup 2017, a biennial two-day football tournament featuring four top club teams of the world. Held in odd years since the first edition in 2009, The Audi Cup is staged at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, before the start of the Bundesliga season. The fifth edition this year will see English legends Liverpool, Spain’s La Liga giants Atletico Madrid and Italian Serie A team Napoli take on hosts Bayern Munich over a two-day four match knockout for the coveted international title. Hosts Bayern have won three out of the four editions held so far with Barcelona being the only other team to win in the second edition in 2011.

The Live and Exclusive broadcast is scheduled from August 1- 3, 2017 at the following times:

Exclusive Telecast Timings:
August 01: Match 1- Atletico Madrid vs Napoli @ 9 PM
August 02: Match 2- Bayern Munich vs Liverpool @ 11.45 PM
August 02: Match 3- Third-place playoff @ 9 PM
August 03: Match 4- FINAL @ 11:45 AM

Following the AUDI Cup 2017 Final, DSPORT will also broadcast Live & Exclusive the game between REAL MADRID and MLS All-Stars scheduled to begin in Soldier Field, Chicago on August 3 at 6.30 AM IST

Following a multi-agency pitch, OMD MudraMax has bagged the media duties of DalmiaCement Bharat Ltd.

Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited (DCBL), a subsidiary of Dalmia Bharat Limited (BSE Code: 533309|NSE Symbol: DALMIABHA and listed in MSE), is a leading player in the cement manufacturing since 1939. It is the third largest cement group in India and has been in existence for more than 75 years. With a growing capacity, currently pegged at 25 MnT, Dalmia Cement is also the third largest manufacturing capacity in the country. Spread across eight states and 11 manufacturing units, the company is also the category leader in super-specialty cements used for oil wells, railway sleepers and air strips and is the country’s largest producer of slag cement. Dalmia Cement has also partnered recently with International Finance Corporation to promote sustainable business.
OMD MudraMax will be partnering with the brand for their comprehensive media efforts. The account will be managed out of the agency’s Gurgaon office and will be led by Tarun Nigam, Executive Vice President and Principal Partner, OMD MudraMax.

Quoting on the partnership, B.K. Singh, Head of Corporate Brands & Marketing, Dalmia Bharat Enterprises Ltd. quoted, “We have very strong confidence on the long term growth opportunity of the Indian cement industry. We have ambitious plans to leverage this opportunity through our core experience and proven expertise of the industry. A capable partner like OMD MudraMax will certainly bring in critical contributions and help in this process. We welcome OMD MudraMax onboard.”

SathyamurthyNamakkal, President, OMD MudraMax quoted, “We are happy to partner with clients who embrace agencies as partners. The brand Dalmia’s ‘customer first’ motto and future ambitions matches with the capabilities that our Group companies stand for & offer. We are delighted to engage with Dalmia Group. A prestigious win for us”.

Quoted Tarun Nigam, Executive Vice President and Principal Partner, OMD MudraMax, “Dalmia is an iconic brand and we are delighted to handle its media duties. It is a great opportunity for us to put forward our strategic thinking, local market expertise and drive on ROI for Dalmia’s brand investments. This is an excellent time to partner with them.”

Becomes first woman to be appointed as full time CMD, ITDC

Ms. Ravneet Kaur, Additional Secretary has been appointed as the Chairperson and Managing Director (C&MD) of India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC). She succeeds Shri Umang Narula, a 1989-batch IAS officer of the J&K Cadre.

Ravneet Kaur, an IAS officer of 1988 batch, Punjab cadre, was Joint Secretary in Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion under Ministry of Commerce and Industry prior to this role. She has also worked as Principal Secretary in the Departments of Higher Education and Languages, Cabinet, Coordination and Parliamentary Affairs with Government of Punjab. Earlier, in Government of India, she has served in the Department of Financial Services, Department of Economic Affairs and Department of Disinvestment.

In a span of 29 years, Ms. Kaur served multiple positions some of which include Vice Chairperson and Managing Director of Punjab Communications Limited., Chairperson and Managing Director, Exim Bank; Chairperson and Managing Director of India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd., Additional Managing Director of Markfed, Managing Director, PSIDC; Managing Director, Punsup.

She spent a year as a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow at Cornell University, USA and holds an MA in Economics and a M.Sc. in Public Economic Management from University of Birmingham, UK. She also served as a Consultant with International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington D.C.

In a recent announcement, Ashok Venkatramani, the former CEO of ABP news Network, has joined Chrome Data Analytics & Media Private Limited as Director.

He brings with him an experience of over 25 years in sales, marketing and general management roles in the FMCG and broadcasting sectors. Chrome DM has been a pioneer for over eight years in Broadcast Distribution Audits and Primary Media Research in India. Over the years the company has built strengths across Big Data and Primary Consumer Research & Analytics. In his role, he will be working closely with the group’s leadership team.

Chrome DM has recently launched a new “Consumer & Market Research Services” vertical. This business vertical leverages Chrome’s nationwide field force across 3300 Cities and 215,000 villages and proprietary technology tools for primary consumer research. Within a short span of six months, it has already bagged accounts of leading brands & a wide spectrum of clients like Mercedes, Dabur, Gionee, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (Ministry of Power, Gov. of India), Lava, Central Ministry of Urban Development (Govt. of India), Toyota, BhartiyaJanta Party and Department of Information and Public Relations(Govt. of Rajasthan), among others. Mr.Venkatramani’s engagement would further strengthen this initiative. While he would be based out of Mumbai, he would be equally involved with the Delhi team.

“Chrome has witnessed unprecedented growth over the years, and is today an accepted currency for over 600+ TV channels”, said Venkatramani. “I’m also looking forward to working closely with its bright young Team, as its doing some interesting work in the space of Primary Consumer & Media Research and analytics with a diverse portfolio of clients ”, he further added.

Commenting, Pankaj Krishna, Founder &Managing Director, Chrome Data Analytics & Media said, “I’m delighted to have Ashok on board. As a young company, Ashok’s years of experience make for the perfect fit for us. He has been a driving force in his previous roles at Unilever and ABP, and we’re looking forward to the value he will add with his inputs.”