Michael Phelps Will Race Great White During ‘Shark Week’

Michael Phelps is tired of humiliating his human competition and is ready to move on to a greater challenge – sharks.

As part of an overhaul of the Discovery Channel, Shark Week, the channel’s highest rated event, will begin with a water race between Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, and a Great White Shark, the most decorated shark of all time.

“When you think about world-class swimmers, I think two things come to mind. Sharks. And Michael Phelps,” Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav told ad buyers at a breakfast in New York on Tuesday.

“And Michael Phelps will be a part of Shark Week on opening night, where he’ll be aligning with the sharks and we’re going to have a lot of fun with him.”

In addition to this Shark Week stunt, the Discovery Communications has plans for many of its other shows and channels. Discovery Communications is the only media company in the U.S. that owns one hundred percent of its intellectual property – meaning they own, completely, every show that broadcasts on any of their stations.

Because of their ownership, they are able to better target advertisements and shows to audiences, while also increasing programing that works.

One of their most successful genres of programing is crime shows. Henry Schleiff, president of Investigation Discovery (ID), one of Discovery Communications’ stations, plans to broadcast documentaries and re-enactments of some of the most notorious crimes and criminals in history, including the “Son of Sam” killer David Berkowitz, and the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.

“@Discovery said today it will premiere its scripted anthology series #ManhuntUnabomber,” a tweet from Deadline Hollywood read yesterday.

“ID has the distinct advantage of being the one and only place viewers can find original mystery and suspense content, 24/7, with its unique mix of series, specials, and movies that entertain, inform, and inspire,” Schlieff said in New York.

Discovery Communications also recently purchased Group Nine, the company behind the Now This videos that circulate on social media. This purchase is the main reason Discovery has become the number one provider of news video on Facebook.

With all the success the company seems to be having, both Phelps and the sharks are going to have to swim pretty fast if they want to keep up.