The Silver Spring Penguin

Discovery Communications, the cable-TV giant and creative genius behind Chompy the Shark, is going public, the Washington Business Journal reported Wednesday.

Expect shares of DISAD, DISBD and DISCK to hit the Nasdaq stock exchange Thursday, the Journal wrote. Exactly how much they’ll go for, and whether Discovery’s 2,000 Silver Spring-based employees will get a slice, is unclear.

Calls to Discovery Communications’ PR department on Georgia and Wayne Avenues were not answered.

The company actually has two mommies — the publicly traded Discovery Holding, and the private company Advance/Newhouse. Shareholders on the Discovery Holding side will score common stock in Discovery Communications. Advance/Newhouse players will get preferred shares, the Journal wrote.

The initial public offering drops during a rough week on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average circled the drain Monday with a 500-point loss. That same day, brokerage giant Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, and the Bank of America bought out Merrill Lynch. And everyone and their brother reported Wednesday the government’s $85 billion bailout of insurance monster AIG.

Lead photo courtesy of Flickr user Faceless B.

Update: Opening day was a mixed bag for Discovery, wrote The Washington Post. Discovery’s A shares (DISAD) opened at $18.53 and ended the day at $13.81. Its C shares (DISCK) opened at $12.80 and closed at $16. You win some, you lose some.