Jean-Briac Perrette Named New Chief Digital Officer at Discovery Communications

Perrette helped develop Hulu and launch new digital channels Chiller and Sleuth at NBCUniversal

Discovery Communications president David Zaslav has announced that Jean-Briac (JB) Perrette has been named the company's new Chief Digital Officer.

Perrette, who left his job as president of Digital and Affiliate Distribution and Content Distribution Strategy for NBCUniversal in April, will manage a team of more than 300 employees and oversee Discovery.com, TLC.com and HowStuffWorks.com, as well as digital distribution efforts and the company's licensing and home entertainment divisions.

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"JB is one of the top digital strategists in the media industry today and joins Discovery at an important time in our growth and development,” Zaslav said. 

"We look forward to JB's leadership in taking Discovery to the next level of growth as we continue focusing on creating value, deepening engagement with more viewer sampling of our brands, and monetizing our 25-year programming library across an increasing number of digital distribution platforms."

Perrette steps into a Discovery digital media division that has posted major growth in the last year. Monthly video streams on Discovery's U.S. Websites have increased by 83 percent to 126 million, the Websites average more than 50 million monthly uniques and the group has released three top iPad apps, including HowStuffWorks and Discovery.

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At NBCUniversal, Perrette coordinated the company's content distribution strategy, including launching cable channels Sleuth, Chiller and Universal HD and helping to develop Hulu. 

Perrette, who'll be based in New York, where he lives with his wife and son, has held board positions with A&E Television Networks, Hulu, the Peacock Equity Fund and the non-profit Citizen Schools New York.

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