Internet Desk: In a fairly major public dispute, broadcaster Discovery UK is threatening to pull its programming from Sky after accusing the service of refusing to pay a fair price” for its 12 channels (which include Eurosport, Animal Planet, TLC and the Discovery Channel, among others).
Discovery claims its channels account for 50 percent of all factual programming viewership on Sky, and that it’s paid less now than it was a decade ago despite adding new channels, investing more in original content and growing viewing figures during that period. Sky, on the other hand, doesn’t see the same value in Discovery’s portfolio and is calling its financial terms “completely unrealistic,” adding “we have been overpaying Discovery for years and are not going to anymore.”
Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch said: “The fact is that their share of viewing in linear has been in long-term decline.” And linear, aka scheduled TV programming, is becoming less important to Sky as it embraces the shift to on-demand viewing with its new Sky Q service. Getting even more personal, Darroch also told the press: “They are not hitting the sort of big shows that people expect and pay for. I can’t think of a Discovery show in our top 100 shows.”
The reason both companies are being so forthright, instead of saving these discussions for meeting rooms, might have something to do with the length of negotiations. After agreeing to pay a record £4.2 billion for Premier League rights in 2015, Sky has reportedly been looking quite specifically at its financial relationship with Discovery.
What Sky customers are going to lose
The following Discovery channels will vanish from Sky from February 1:
- Discovery HD
- Discovery History
- Discovery Home & Healt
- Discovery Science
- Discovery Shed
- Discovery Turbo
- DMAX
- Eurosport1
- Eurosport2
- Investigation Discovery
- Quest
- TLC
- Animal Planet
The following shows on these channels will also be lost on Sky:
- Gold Rush
- Fast N’ Loud
- Idris Elba: Fighter
- Ed Stafford
- Cake Boss
- Say Yes to the Dress
- Tattoo Girls
- Bondi Vet
- River Monsters
- Tanked
- World Superbikes
- US and Australian Open
Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch said: “The fact is that their share of viewing in linear has been in long-term decline.” And linear, aka scheduled TV programming, is becoming less important to Sky as it embraces the shift to on-demand viewing with its new Sky Q service. Getting even more personal, Darroch also told the press: “They are not hitting the sort of big shows that people expect and pay for. I can’t think of a Discovery show in our top 100 shows.”
The reason both companies are being so forthright, instead of saving these discussions for meeting rooms, might have something to do with the length of negotiations. After agreeing to pay a record £4.2 billion for Premier League rights in 2015, Sky has reportedly been looking quite specifically at its financial relationship with Discovery.
And Sky isn’t the only one. In fact, one won’t find Discovery’s channels on TalkTalk TV after a much quieter parting of ways last year, and German providers have apparently been butting heads with Discovery over costs too. As they say, there’s no smoke without fire, and it appears this fire could burn the bridge between Sky and Discovery for good.
