A new agreement has been reached to keep Discovery’s portfolio of 12 channels – which include Discovery and Eurosport – on Sky TV. The Discovery Channel will also stay on NOW TV.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Discovery said: “The deal we reached with Sky is meaningfully better than our former agreement and their proposal.
“Furthermore, our new arrangement enables us to control our destiny in more ways, with even more opportunities to invest and launch channels and consumer services.”
Last month Discovery threatened to pull its entire portfolio from Sky following a contract row between the two broadcasters. Discovery accused Sky of refusing to “pay a fair price”, while Sky said the price expectations set out by Discovery were “completely unrealistic”.
Discovery claims its channels draw in around 5.5 million people each week. These include Discovery Channel, Eurosport 1, Eurosport 2, TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, Discovery History, Discovery Shed, Home and Health, DMAX, Discovery Science and Discovery Turbo.
The agreement also covers Discovery’s four pay-TV channels in Germany.
“We want to thank our millions of viewers and fans for their overwhelming support over the last few days,” said Susanna Dinnage, managing director, Discovery Networks UK.
“We have reached a new agreement that guarantees Sky’s customers access to Discovery’s wide range of channels and programmes for years to come. Our fans’ voices were heard loud and clear. They want choice and great TV and I cannot stress how much we love them for their support.”
