Discovery Channel announced today it has promoted Phil Zimmerman to Vice President of Communications. In his new role, Zimmerman will help drive Discovery’s communications strategies and continue reporting to Laurie Goldberg, Executive Vice President of Communications for Discovery, Animal Planet and Science Channel.
Zimmerman joined Discovery in 2012 and quickly rose up the ranks – serving recently as Senior Director and overseeing the publicity campaigns for such iconic series as “Deadliest Catch,” “Gold Rush,” “Bering Sea Gold,” the network’s first true crime series “Killing Fields” and live events including “Skywire Live with Nik Wallenda.”
With more than a decade of entertainment experience, Zimmerman brings a wide range of experience to the position. Previous to joining Discovery, he 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. Before “Jeopardy!,” he worked his way up in the communications departments for such renowned PBS series as “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer,” “Frontline” and “Independent Lens.”
