Discovery Communications has acquired AIMS Multimedia, one of its largest competitors in the instructional video market, for an undisclosed sum. Company executives say the deal, announced Aug. 16, will expand the content and services available to educators through the cable programmer's rapidly growing digital library--making its newly formed Discovery Education business unit the largest distributor of streaming media content to K-12 schools in the United States.

"The acquisition of AIMS Multimedia solidifies Discovery's position as a leader and innovator in the world of digital video-based learning," said Judith McHale, president and chief executive officer of Discovery. "Discovery Education will continue to lead the industry with the very best educational video content and online services that engage and excite students and improve their academic performance."

With more than 1 billion subscribers and 60 networks worldwide, the global media provider, headquartered in Silver Spring, Md., is perhaps best known for its brand of explorative, offbeat television programs, such as "Trading Spaces" and "Monster Garage." But in schools, Discovery is often recognized for another attribute: its proven ability to raise student achievement.

Discovery reaffirmed its educational roots with last year's purchase of United Learning. The Evanston, Ill.-based company, known for its popular "unitedstreaming" video-on-demand (VOD) service, was acquired to bolster Discovery's own vast digital library with its thousands of hours of educational video clips. The acquisition of United Learning also gave Discovery another medium through which to supply its content: streaming video.

Discovery streams the short, teacher-selected snippets to schools in exchange for a yearly fee. The videos, proven to bolster student achievement in math, science, and social studies through two independent studies (see "Video on demand boosts students' math scores") have become a hot commodity in schools, as teachers search for ways to meet the rigorous testing requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

So far, more than 26,000 schools have adopted the service, which Discovery will supply for free to one non-subscribing school in every United States school district during the coming school year as part of its "VOD Pass" initiative.

With the addition of AIMS Multimedia, Discovery will increase its presence in U.S. schools "by a significant margin," according to Steve Sidel, executive vice president for the company's education division.

Sidel said Discovery is excited about the merger because it will enable the company to grow by expanding the breadth of its services while continuing to provide educational videos that are correlated to state standards.

In 2000, AIMS introduced DigitalCurriculum.com, an internet-based online streaming video-on-demand library. Seen by many as unitedstreaming's only substantial competition, the online subscription service offers access to more than 8,000 different video images for use in the classroom.