Newly arrived Discovery Channel President Rich Ross on Thursday signaled a significant shift in Discovery’s programming and focus designed to infuse more authenticity into the brand.

Discovery is moving away from hyped-up stunts such as Eaten Alive and Mega Week and embracing scripted drama in an effort to broaden the appeal of a brand that Ross said had become more narrow than it needed to be.

“The most important thing is authenticity,” Ross told the reporters gathered for the second day of the Television Critics Association 2015 Winter Press Tour in Pasadena.

Discovery is home to one of the most recognizable and enduring franchises on cable—Shark Week—the success of which has spawned a number of copycats recently.

But the decision to inject fake documentaries with names like Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives and Shark of Darkness: Wrath of Submarine into recent iterations of Shark Week led a growing chorus of detractors to accuse Discovery of betraying it’s science-based heritage and diluting its brand as it chased hype and ratings.

He said that welcoming more women and younger viewers back to Discovery is key to helping combat lagging ratings—and ensuring that Discovery is the “Number one TV brand for the whole family.”

Discovery is hoping that five-time Emmy award winner and HBO vet John Hoffman will help them earn back some scientific and factual street cred with viewers who were disappointed by recent stunts. Hoffman’s arrival as EVP of documentaries and specials was announced Thursday morning.

Ross sees a “huge opportunity” in scripted programming, with Discovery also announcing Thursday that John Goldwyn is coming on board as Executive Producer for Scripted Programming. Most recently, Goldwyn served as executive producer for Gracepoint at Fox. Look for two scripted series on the network by the end of the year, Ross said.

Of course Thursday’s news that Ross intends to embrace authenticity for the sake of the brand did signal bad news for one constituency: viewers who like seeing men getting eaten by snakes.

Eaten Alive, it appears, will not be getting a sequel.

”I don’t believe you’ll be seeing a person being eaten by a snake in my time,” Ross said.

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