Sky agrees deal to keep Discovery and Eurosport TV channels

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A deal has been reached at the eleventh hour to keep the Discovery channels on Sky TV.

Following a surprisingly public disagreement, Discovery and Sky have reached an agreement to keep the Discovery portfolio of TV channels on Sky "for years to come".

Some twelve channels, including Discovery, Eurosport, TLC and Animal Planet, were set to be removed from Sky following a public spat over the cost of the deal.

A Sky source reportedly claimed the TV company had been "overpaying Discovery for years". Discovery launched a campaign imploring viewers to petition Sky and show their support for the channels.

And now a deal has been reached, with both parties announcing the "great news" that all the Discovery channels would remain on Sky and Now TV. The cut-off date for reaching a new agreement was said to be 31st January.

Susanna Dinnage, managing director, Discovery Networks UK, said in a statement: “We want to thank our millions of viewers and fans for their overwhelming support over the last few days. 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."

Sky also took the opportunity to announce a new deal with PBS America, promising "the best of PBS's factual programming". Over 1,000 hours of programming is set to be added to Sky's On Demand service from channels such as History and National Geographic.

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Joe Cox
Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).