Discovery Enterprises letting Doki out to play

Discovery Enterprises is rolling out a suite of branded merchandise, based on its successful Doki character, throughout Latin America.

Doki is a puppy and is used in interstitials on the Discovery Kids channel throughout Latin America. Discovery Kids is one of the top-rated cable channels in the region. From later this year Discovery will use its in-house licensing arm to roll out a wide range of licensed Doki merchandise.

“Doki is an interstitial character and he’s so well known throughout the region that from 4Q08 we will have everything from games to plush, to backpacks and even a branded hotel,” says Caleb Weinstein, senior VP, Enterprises, at Discovery Communications.

Weinstein has been tasked with growing Discovery’s Enterprise division, which was created to boost programme sales and licensing and merchandising activity. The reorganised unit is shopping content across numerous genres.

“The message is we’re open for business and there is a lot more than just content from the Discovery Channel. We have everything from blue-chip docs to, to lifestyle, to science programming,” Weinstein said.