Paul Lewis

President and General Manager, Discovery Channel

Paul Lewis

Paul Lewis, as President and General Manager of Discovery Channel in Canada, is responsible for all of the network’s day-to-day operations including programming, production and marketing as well as business and strategic planning. He also oversees operations for five additional channels – Discovery World HD, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery (I.D.), Science Channel and travel + escape – as well as a production company, Exploration Production Inc., which makes and distributes award winning documentaries for the international market.

Lewis joined Discovery Channel in 1994 as Executive Producer of in-house programming and helped create the world’s first daily science magazine show, @discovery.ca, which was re-introduced in Fall 2002 as Daily Planet. He has also developed and executive produced numerous documentaries, series and live specials. He was also responsible for Discovery Canada’s most ambitious project ever — Race to Mars and Mars Rising – a multi-platform concept that he conceived and developed.

As President, Lewis has built strong strategic partnerships with other broadcasters such as NHK in Japan and CCTV in China as well as important cultural organizations such as the National Film Board in Canada.

In addition to his Discovery responsibilities, Lewis has been involved in numerous industry organizations, including the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, Innoversity and the World Congress of Science and Factual Producers. He is currently a Board Member of the Science Media Centre of Canada, devoted to increasing the accuracy and scope of science reporting; Planet in Focus, an environmental film festival and Lewa Canada which is dedicated to increasing awareness and educational links with the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy operating in Kenya.

Before Discovery, Lewis spent 15 years as a journalist at CBC Television. He is a graduate of the journalism program at Ryerson University in Toronto and has completed the Alliance Atlantis Banff Television Executive Program.