Update: Fans of Mythbusters rejoice, Discovery and Sky have since reached an agreement and the channels will not be disappearing from Sky.
Original story below:
Bad news Sky subscribers, you’re about to lose 13 channels after January 31 from your subscription whether you like it or not.
The channels in question are those owned by Discovery, and include Eurosport, Discovery History and Discovery Science.
Now TV (Sky’s streaming service) will also see the Discovery Channel and associated on-demand content dropped from its service.
What's causing this?
The situation has come about due to a price dispute, although it’s not clear exactly how the dispute started.
Reuters reports that Sky is unhappy with the price Discovery is asking for its channels and quotes a representative as saying, "We have been overpaying Discovery for years and are not going to anymore."
In a statement on its website, Sky has said that Discovery asked for close to £1bn for the right to broadcast its channels, when Sky claims many are in decline.
It sounds as though with fewer people watching linear channels in favour of on-demand content, Sky is looking to spend less on the former while it shifts its focus to the latter with products such as Sky Q.
Both companies appear to be running PR campaigns to get the public onside. Discovery has set up a countdown on its website to drum up support the channels on Sky’s service with instructions for its fans to contact Sky to petition for a deal to be made.
Meanwhile Sky has set up a ‘We Love Discovery Too’ page to put across its side of the argument.
With both companies sticking to their guns it’s hard to see the situation resolving itself any time soon, but we’ve got our fingers crossed that Discovery fans won’t have to search too far to get their fix.
Which channels are affected?
Here is a complete list of the Discovery channels that will be leaving Sky’s service:
- Discovery Channel
- Discovery Channel HD
- Discovery Channel +1
- Animal Planet
- Animal Planet HD
- Animal Planet +1
- Discovery Science
- Discovery Science +1
- Investigation Discovery
- Investigation Discovery+1
- Discovery History
- Discovery History+1
- Discovery Turbo
- Quest
- Quest+1
- DMAX
- DMAX+1
- TLC
- TLC HD
- TLC+1
- TLC+2
- Home & Health
- Home & Health +1
- Discovery Shed
- Eurosport 1
- Eurosport 1 HD
- Eurosport 2
- Eurosport 2 HD
