Sky / Discovery Dispute

I think Sky would bid high for the Champions League next time around but only in an attempt to increase what funds BT are willing to part with for the privilege for the rights.

Just seen on twitter that Discovery content has apparently been pulled from Sky Go (I've no idea if it was there previously however)

There was a section for it which now doesn't show up on Sky Go but can still be accessed via Google, not that it means anything as its now empty/non existent.

The Discovery on demand section on Sky on Demand/Catch up TV is still there, downloadable and playable. For the moment.

Would any recordings in your Sky Planner disappear from Tuesday if Discovery left the platform?

Couldn't help but notice what appears to be a new 'Discover documentaries on Sky' advert shown on Sky Sports 1 about ten minutes ago, safe to say this'll get shown more in the next week or so.

It's been a while since I've had Sky but I remember recording lots of films when I did subscribe to movie channels then being unable to watch them after I slimmed my subscription down a bit. Those channels were still on the air though, I just no longer subscribed to them, so I suppose that's a but different to the scenario here.

Shouldn't do, I have recordings from channels that don't "exist" now that still play. BBC Three, Channel 5+24 and for some long forgotten reason, Smart Live Casino when it was on Sky 863. These all play.



Yes, that's an entirely different thing as the movies are premium channels. Cancel your subscription to Cinema, and they won't play. You can record but can't play.

I know it's one thing to say something and another to do it, but I have two twitter searches in Tweetdeck, one for "Eurosport" and one for "Discovery Sky" and literally every few seconds there is a new tweet from someone saying they'll leave Sky or asking where they can find Eurosport or Discovery Channel if it goes.


Sports fans are going to seek out the coverage, whether that's on another provider such as Virgin or TV Player Plus, or through betting or illegal streaming sites. The grand slams - while only 6 weeks of Eurosport's content - are the most important events for tennis fans, and likely to bring in bigger audiences than the ATP Masters on Sky or WTA tour on BT Sport. Eurosport have sensibly retained some of the rights to the smaller tennis tournaments in between the grand slams to hold interest.

The more niche the sport, the more likely a fan is going to have sought out that specific coverage, whether it be superbikes or biathlon or ice skating, which probably isn't going to be available elsewhere. It will be one of the biggest reasons for subscribing to a Sky package. Sky's alternative offering that they put on their website is frankly laughable and patronising and shows they don't care for fans of anything other than football.

The WTA scored an own goal when it pulled out of the Tennis TV streaming service last year without any equivalent to replace it - which fans would have been happy to join. While I imagine the rights holders such as BT Sport might have seen a small increase in subscriptions due to this, it was clear from twitter that many fans, particularly in the US, moved towards the dodgy streams (more).

Cord cutting is becoming an issue in the US, where linear subscriptions are through the roof (not to say Sky isn't either), but is increasing here in the UK thanks to the broadcasters paying OTT for sports rights.

Luckily we have a healthy legal industry, especially with NOW TV and TV Player providing a cheaper way of providing some channels for a much lower price than Sky and Virgin charge. However that doesn't stop the illegal free streams which are largely useless during matches or premium pirate services offering channels that would be at the top tier of subscriptions for a quarter of the price.

Yes - that's because the recordings on the Sky+ hard drive are straight off-air recordings of the encrypted broadcast. The decryption happens on playback (sensibly this means just one decryption unit is required - rather than two) As a result the subscription needs to be valid for the channel at the point of playback, not just recording.

I think the question here is whether Discovery channels being removed, and then reinstated in the EPG will disrupt series links. I guess we're about to find out...

I can't believe a resolution won't be found - it was in Scandinavia when Discovery and Canal Digital fell out.

Ouch! Sky not very subtly bashing that particular hornets nest with sharp stick, using those words there..!

Indeed that's what I thought, sneaky. Worth noting that since this morning the main Sky+HD menu now has a Discover Documentaries thumbnail, having a glance over, it's looking a bit thin on content.