Delaware Tech students tour Discovery Channel headquarters

A group of 10 Delaware Technical Community College Communications Technology students recently took a behind-the-scenes tour of the international headquarters of Discovery Communications in Silver Spring, Md., Discovery Communications is the parent company of such stations as The Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC and Investigation Discovery, among others.

Bert Collins, Discovery's director of emerging technology, led the tour of the production facility, which included stops at an HD editing suite, an audio editing suite and the 4K editing suite, and an overview of the company’s media operations.

Then the students ventured to the main headquarters where they visited a research and development lab. They heard the company’s history and an overview of daily operations.

"When I first heard about the opportunity for Communications students to go on a trip to Discovery Channel headquarters, I was excited, but I had no idea what exactly we would be doing," said communications student Brennan Weber. "It turns out we were in for a fully immersive tour of the production and editing process, as well as the ability to meet the editors, audio techs, and staff behind the shows."

"We were so grateful to have been given such access by the staff at Discovery," said Rob Rector, chair of the Communications Technology program. "They truly went above and beyond to provide students with hands-on demonstrations and invaluable insight, not only to the company, but the global state of mass media."

"It was just amazing to see what people who are former Communications majors can do after school, working on shows like 'Deadliest Catch' and 'Ice Road Truckers,' and it got me excited to see what the future holds for me and my fellow Communications classmates after graduation," Weber said.

"We are fortunate to have such an established, well-respected media giant within our area," Rector said. "And while their reach is international, the staff could not have been more personable and accommodating to our Communications students from Delaware Tech."

For more information on the Communications Technology program at Delaware Technical Community College, contact Rector at rrector@dtcc.edu.