Discovery Promotes Phil Zimmerman to Communications VP

Previously senior director, Zimmerman oversaw PR campaigns for “Deadliest Catch” and “Gold Rush”

Phil Zimmerman Discovery

The senior publicity director behind “Gold Rush” and “Bering Sea Gold” just struck pay dirt himself: Discovery Channel has promoted Phil Zimmerman to vice president of communications.

Zimmerman will continue reporting to Laurie Goldberg, executive vice president of communications for Discovery, Animal Planet and Science Channel.

He joined Discovery in 2012 and quickly rose up the ranks — recently overseeing publicity campaigns for some of the cable channel’s biggest shows, including “Deadliest Catch” and the network’s first true crime series “Killing Fields.” Zimmerman also worked on live events including “Skywire Live with Nik Wallenda.”

Before joining Discovery, Zimmerman was senior publicist for the quiz show “Jeopardy!” where he served as the lead contact for the series and host Alex Trebek. He led the publicity campaign for “Jeopardy! The IBM Challenge” – featuring the man vs. machine competition against IBM’s Watson, which became one of the most publicized events in the show’s history.

Prior to “Jeopardy!,” he worked his way up in the communications departments of PBS’ “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer,” “Frontline” and “Independent Lens.”

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