Assignment Discovery, the award-winning, educational non-fiction series by Discovery Networks International, will be launched into Asia and Australia beginning in April. The program, designed for use in the classroom, will air on Fridays in a commercial-free, language-customized block from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

The immediate purpose of Assignment Discovery is to provide schools worldwide with quality programming for their video collections.

‘Like the rest of our regional schedule, episodes will be language-customized,’ says Rex Recka, VP of programming for DNI. ‘We want to re-examine some of the shows that aired domestically to make sure that, as they’re re-edited for our international block, the content is sensitive to the viewing habits of each of the new regions.’ Discovery also offers teaching materials that will be of interest to and specially tailored for each region.

A total of 26 hours of original programming, focusing on science and technology, are set to air this year in the new regions during the second quarter. Discovery is also planning to launch Assignment Discovery in India in third quarter 1999.

In related news, Discovery Networks Asia has signed a year-long deal with Asian Cable Communications Inc. (ACCION) for the distribution of Animal Planet in the Philippines beginning this month.