The recent “Shark Week” tradition of a DC Universe superhero hosting the beloved Discovery Channel event continues this year when John Cena of “Peacemaker” kicks off the festivities this Sunday. Cena’s appearance as host comes after the turn of “Aquaman” Jason Momoa last year, and the two years before that of “Black Adam” star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The difference between Cena and his predecessors was his lack of shark education.
“One of the interesting things about John is that, and he admitted this from the beginning, he really didn’t know much about sharks,” said Karen Bronzo, chief marketing officer for the US networks. Variety from Cena, who is also connected to the WBD family as host of TBS’ “Wipeout.” And part of the mission of ‘Shark Week’ is to celebrate and educate people about these amazing creatures. And so he was really excited to come with us, which really gave us a very different angle than last year with Jason Momoa, who was really interested in that topic and knew quite a bit about it.
The premiere night of “Shark Week” will feature four specials, starting with “Belly of the Beast: Bigger and Bloodier” at 8 p.m., with titles throughout the week including “Big Shark Energy,” “6,000 Lb. Shark,” “Sharktopia” and “Mothersharker: Hammer Time,” among others.
Bronzo points to the “great collaboration” between the WBD US network team (led by Chairman and CEO Kathleen Finch) and the team of James Gunn and Peter Safran at DC Studios to make Cena and all DC cross-promotion work for the “ Shark Week” this year. But it wasn’t that difficult to get DC on board, according to Safran, who relished the opportunity.
“John Cena will be a great host for ‘Shark Week,’ and we are so pleased with the ways in which ‘Peacemaker’ and DC have been incorporated into this year’s iconic event,” said DC Studios Co-Chairman and CEO Peter Safran . Variety. “Thanks to Kathleen, Karen and the entire Shark Week team for their creativity and collaboration.”
But DC’s involvement is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the synergy efforts that Warner Bros. Discovery – which resulted from the merger between Discovery and WarnerMedia in April 2022 – delivers around the annual summer programming block.
“What we’ve learned since we’ve been one company for the past two years is how to work together in the most organic and authentic way,” Bronzo said. “In the very beginning, I think we did a lot of things because we felt like we had to do that, and it might not have been the best choice to do co-promotions on certain things. Over time, we’ve learned that what audiences respond to and what brands feel most comfortable with are the things that are the most organic.”
Bronzo explains that the WBD US network marketing team’s process for Discovery’s “Shark Week” starts with informing all sister networks and companies – “but we don’t tell people what to do.” “We say go home, think about it, and then come back to us and tell us what makes sense,” Bronzo said. “And that’s how we come up with the best ideas. We would never have gotten there ourselves, but because they came up with the right way that really resonates with the audience of those specific brands, we really have the best results for all of us.”
These efforts resulted in a co-branded promo with “House of the Dragon,” a TV spot for Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” featuring sharks singing the iconic “Banana Boat (Day-O)” and star Winona Ryder (who you can watch in the video above before it debuts on linear networks), Bleacher Report’s “Storytime” focused on Kobe Bryant and his love for sharks, a special episode of CNN’s “The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper” focused on ocean conservation, AEW’s shark-themed competition on TBS, Food Network’s shark-inspired episode of “Summer Baking Championship” and an associated social media promo video featuring King Shark from ‘Suicide Squad’.
In turn, ‘Shark Week’ – with an audience ten years younger than the average Discovery viewer, and by 2023 will see its line-up increase the number of people who haven’t watched Discovery in the last six weeks by 49% – used to public there for the sharks to those other properties. Think of it as the commercial’s version of the symbiotic relationship between sharks and their parasite-eating remora.
“Last year we grew in a linear environment. There is something to be said for that; it’s really exciting,” Bronzo said. “And it gives us the opportunity to introduce this fresh, younger audience to many of the company’s other priorities: the current season of ‘House of the Dragon,’ ‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,’ launching on Max, and ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.’ These, plus priorities across the U.S. network portfolio, including “Barbecue Brawl,” the new “Impractical Jokers” premiere. So we are organizing that week very strategically to ensure that we put our most important properties at the forefront.”
Off-screen, WBD seeks to engage consumers in “Shark Week 2024” through partnerships with MLB, Georgetown Cupcakes, Playa Bowls, Beneath the Waves and Southwest Airlines, among others.
Bronzo, who says they’ll start planning “Shark Week 2025” once it’s over, is already looking at next year’s host — and looking beyond the lineup of DC talent. She also foresees “absolutely female presenters in the future” after more than a decade of men running the event.
“One of the things that we’ve always been very conscious of, especially in bringing in the other experts that we have at the host, is making sure that we have diversity, that we have women’s voices, that we have diverse voices,” Bronzo said.