• by David Kaplan , March 15, 2005

Only in the media world can one sign on as a guest to a birthday party and still expect to receive a large share of the presents. That's the position America Online is in as it enters a year-long marketing and advertising partnership with the Discovery Channel in support of the network's 20th anniversary.

Providing strategic use of both Discovery and AOL assets benefits both media companies, spokesmen for the Internet service provider and the cable channel said.

But all their big guns are trained on what's called the partnership's centerpiece: Discovery Channel's Greatest American, which asks viewers and Web surfers to choose a person who has changed the country for the better. The top 100 nominees, to be announced in April on AOL and Discovery Channel, will determine the content of the Discovery Channel series beginning in June.

"We are providing AOL with broad-reaching exposure across virtually all of our networks and online during our anniversary year, and AOL in turn can use its rich, online community to encourage people to vote for their 'Greatest American' in support of our largest programming initiative of the year," said Joe Abruzzese, president of advertising sales at Discovery Networks.

In addition to Greatest American, AOL's sponsorship spans two other 20th anniversary specials: "Alien Planet¸" which creates a realistic depiction of creatures on another world where life is possible, if not probable, according to scientists' theories; and "Titanic: The Last Dive," an expedition led by director James Cameron (who directed the wildly successful--and longish-- movie about the disaster) to the nearly 50 percent of the Titanic that has never been seen by the public.

AOL will also sponsor updated versions of various Discovery Channel documentaries from the network's past two decades.