Ford Returning to Discovery

John Ford, former head of Discovery Health Channel, will return to Discovery Communications as president and general manager of Military Channel and Discovery Times Channel.

With his new role, Ford will be responsible for the creative and business strategies for the two networks, overseeing programming, operations and new-media content.

Ford was most recently head of programming at Discovery rival National Geographic Channel, a job he had held since 2003. He left his position at NGC in March to pursue independent creative projects, including feature films.

"John is without question one of our industry's top programming chiefs, and it is our good fortune to welcome him back to the Discovery family," Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav said.