• by Paul Gough , June 12, 2003

The Discovery Health Channel may be about more than just babies, but babies are the main draw for viewers and advertisers.

The channel's highest-rated programming for the first 10 weeks of the second quarter has been two baby-themed shows, Babies: Special Delivery (0.33 household and 0.24 among women 25-54) and Then Came Baby (0.26 household and 0.19 women 25-54). Other baby shows rate highly on a regular basis, and in February, Discovery Health literally covered the country with camera crews to show live births in a 10-hour marathon that was sponsored by Johnson & Johnson and featured several product placements within Birth Day Live!

"We do a lot with babies," said Eileen O'Neill, vice president of programming for Discovery Health Channel. "We jokingly call it our Shark Week," referring to the long-running Discovery Channel promotion. "Babies do very well on our network, from a ratings and an ad sales perspective. We're going to continue to do a lot of those shows."

Next week, Discovery Health is going neo-natal for the fourth year, with a round of Baby Week programming running June 16-21. Programming includes a one-hour special looking at two families with sextuplets, a Birth Day special and two episodes of Babies: Special Delivery looking at maternity wards in Baltimore, Md., and New Haven, Conn. The new program on sextuplets, for instance, looks at a new family coping with the new additions and another family that's had a little bit more experience with it.

"Multiples are very appealing to our viewers. I think people are just fascinated by the wonder, the magic and the sheer logics and cost," O'Neill said. Discovery Health is going to use a baby-themed stunt on Sunday for a special late afternoon programming block, which will not only highlight Father's Day but also promote the special Baby Week. There are four hours of primetime baby programming in the current schedule and it could go to five with the addition of a planned series, Make Room For Baby.

But that doesn't mean that Discovery Health is a one-note network. Sunday night's primetime schedule includes two medical shows, The Critical Hour and Houston Medical, and only one baby-related show. It's the highest-rated night on Discovery Health's schedule among total households, adults 25-54 and women 25-54 through 10 weeks of the second quarter. Sunday's household rating is 0.28; among adults 25-54 it's 0.15 and among women 25-54 it's 0.21. Beyond medical-themed shows, the network also kicked off the Discovery Health Body Challenge in the past year and a half. For the 2003-04 season, the Discovery Health Body Challenge adds two new series, begins a series on Buff Brides based on the book, and creates an awards show that will run sometime in the fourth quarter.

Diet and fitness shows also do well. Body Challenge follows the transformation of six people who are trying to lose weight. The third version, planned for January 2004, will feature the weight struggles of mothers and fathers who are taking care of children and trying to get healthy and lose weight. Another Body Challenge series, which will air in September 2004 after the Olympics, will feature Hollywood celebrities making the commitment to get into better shape.

The channel is partnering with nonprofit organizations and several sponsors for a national Body Challenge to give viewers the chance to get involved and perhaps appear on television. Details haven't been worked out yet, but it might involve weigh-ins beginning in January at Discovery Channel stores across the country. There will be extensive, online support - free to consumers - and a weight out in April that will be featured.

O'Neill said the integration will be quite tight and television, if it's not secondary to the event, shares the spotlight with other aspects of the campaign.