Patrick Gates Named EVP of Discovery Commerce

Patrick Gates Named EVP of Discovery Commerce

E-commerce Veteran Will Spearhead Discovery's New Retail Initiatives

SILVER SPRING, Md., March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Discovery Commerce, the retail, licensing and direct-to-consumer arm of Discovery Communications, Inc. today announced that Patrick Gates has been named Executive Vice President of Consumer Direct, a new division. The announcement was made by Frank Rosales, President, Discovery Commerce, to whom Gates will report.

As EVP of Consumer Direct, Gates will spearhead new ways to grow Discovery's merchandise business in direct-to-consumer retail channels -- e- commerce, t-commerce, and emerging digital platforms.

"Patrick brings to this position a wealth of experience and a solid track record in driving revenue," Rosales said. "He has immediate credibility in the e-commerce community and I'm certain that he'll hit the ground running to leverage our brand in new and profitable ways."

Gates is a seasoned retail and e-commerce executive, bringing nearly twenty years of experience to Discovery. He joins the company from AOL Time Warner, where, for six years, he led many of AOL's pioneering and profitable e-commerce marketing and merchandising initiatives including target shopping sites and consumer loyalty programs. Gates held the title of Senior Vice President, E-Commerce on his departure from AOL. His background includes roles at Home Shopping Network as SVP, Marketing and SVP Programming; Q2/QVC Inc., as Divisional Merchandise Manager; and roles with Barney's New York and Neiman Marcus.

Discovery Commerce is the retail and licensing arm of Discovery Communications, Inc. Discovery Commerce offerings extend the Discovery experience to a worldwide audience through a broad array of entertaining and informative products and services. Discovery's retail channels include a nation-wide chain of Discovery Channel Stores, a seasonal Discovery Channel Store catalog, robust online shopping (discoverystore.com) and direct-to- consumer businesses, and strategic third-party retail and merchandising partnerships. Discovery Global Licensing translates network brands into a wide variety of innovative product lines that are sold through well-known, third-party retailers in both domestic and international markets. These offerings reflect Discovery's core programming genres of science and technology, health, nature, history, travel and exploration. Discovery- branded consumer products are available in 80 countries and 28 languages.

Source: Discovery Commerce

CONTACT: Pamela A. Rucker of Discovery Communications, Inc., +1-240-662-4110, or Pamela_Rucker@discovery.com

Web site: http://www.discovery.com/ http://www.discoverystore.com/

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