Discovery Channel (often referred to as simply Discovery) is a British
pay television
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...
channel, operated by
Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with Di ...
Its programming is based on programming produced by Discovery Networks Europe,
Discovery Channel Canada
Discovery Channel (often referred to as simply Discovery) is a Canadian specialty television channel owned by CTV Speciality Television Inc. (a joint venture between Bell Media/ESPN Inc. (80%) and Warner Bros. Discovery (which owns the remainin ...
and
Discovery Channel from the United States.
History
It first became available in the UK on 1 April 1989 when Discovery Channel Europe was launched. It was the first extension of the Discovery Channel outside the United States.
Prior to 1993, UK viewers could receive the channel from
Intelsat satellites at 27.5° West. In July 1993, the Discovery Channel launched on the
Astra 1C
Astra 1C was a geostationary communications satellite launched in 1993 by the Société Européenne des Satellites ( SES), now SES Astra. The satellite remained in service until 2011 and is now derelict.
History
Astra 1C was the third commu ...
analogue satellite on the popular 19.2° East position where it used to broadcast only in the evening, starting at 4pm. On Astra, the daytime space was filled by
CMT Europe
CMT Europe was a European television channel. It was a European version of Country Music Television.
The channel started in 1992 and in September 1993 it launched on transponder 41 on Astra 1C as part of the Sky Multichannels package, where it wa ...
until 1994, when
TLC
TLC may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Television
* ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2
* TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network
** TLC (Asia), an A ...
(later on
Discovery Home & Leisure) moved there. Eventually, Discovery Home & Leisure would broadcast from the morning to 4pm when Discovery Channel took over and would broadcast for ten hours until 2am.
With the launch of
Sky Digital in October 1998, Discovery Channel moved its start time to 8am, broadcasting for 18 hours per day. The time-shift channel, Discovery Channel +1, launched at the same time, as did several sister channels. Analogue broadcasts were terminated in 2001.
On 22 May 2006,
Discovery HD
Discovery HD is the international name of the high-definition television channels owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The international Discovery HD (later Discovery HD World in Asia-Pacific markets, n ...
was made available on Sky as part of the
Sky+ HD
Sky+ HD was the brand name of the HDTV service launched by Sky plc on 22 May 2006 in the United Kingdom and Ireland to enable high definition channels on Sky to be viewed. For the first two years after launch, the service was branded Sky H ...
launch line up. It was also made available on
Virgin Media
Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...
's cable service on 1 April 2010. From 30 June 2011 Discovery HD began to
simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...
Discovery Channel in
high-definition rather than use a separate schedule.
The channel briefly had a 90-minute timeshift, called Discovery Channel +1.5. It launched on 25 June 2007. It was replaced by
Discovery Science +1 on 21 April 2008.
An Irish advertising feed was launched in 2010. Sky Media Ireland operates the channel's output in terms of advertising, sponsorship and scheduling.
In January 2011, Discovery Channel UK released its new look which places its emphasis on the D-globe logo. The project was created by DixonBaxi and Double G Studios.
On 25 January 2017, Discovery UK announced that they were in a dispute over the fees paid by Sky for broadcast rights and for a time it seemed as though the channels could be removed from the platform after the end of that month. However, an agreement was reached and programming continued uninterrupted.
The Daily Telegraph
/ref>
On 28 November 2022, Discovery is launched on BT TV
BT TV is a subscription IPTV service offered by BT; a division of United Kingdom telecommunications company BT Group, and was originally launched as BT Vision in December 2006. As of the end of June 2019, BT TV had 1.9 million customers ...
and it will be launched in the BT TV Player as well and it will be watch from value packages as well.
Programming
*'' MythBusters''
*''American Chopper
''American Chopper'' is an American reality television series that airs on Discovery Channel, produced by Pilgrim Films & Television. The series centers on Paul Teutul Sr. (frequently called ''Senior''), and his son Paul Teutul Jr. (also kno ...
''
*''Extreme Engineering
''Extreme Engineering'' is a documentary television series that aired on the Discovery Channel and the Science Channel. The program featured futuristic and ongoing engineering projects. After ending of season 3 it airs under the ''Build It Bi ...
''
*''How Do They Do It?
''How Do They Do It?'' is a television series produced by Wag TV for Discovery Channel. Each programme explores how 2 or 3 ordinary objects are made and used. The show's slogan is "Behind the ordinary is the extraordinary." The series is broa ...
''
*''How It's Made
''How It's Made'' (''Comment c'est fait'' in French) is a Canadian documentary television series that premiered on January 6, 2001, on the Discovery Channel in Canada and the Science Channel in the United States. The program is produced in th ...
''
*'' Deadliest Catch''
*''Storm Chasers
''Storm Chasers'' is an American documentary reality television series that premiered on October 17, 2007, on the Discovery Channel. Produced by Original Media, the program follows several teams of storm chasers as they attempt to intercept ...
''
*'' Man vs. Wild'' (known as ''Bear Grylls: Born Survivor'')
*''Modern Top Ten''
*''Wheeler Dealers
Wheeler Dealers is a British TV series originally produced by Attaboy TV for the Discovery Channel in the UK and for Motor Trend in the U.S. The programme is fronted by car enthusiast and former dealer Mike Brewer with mechanics Edd China (Seri ...
''
*''Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when ...
''
*''Fifth Gear
''Fifth Gear'' is a British motoring television magazine series on Discovery+. It is a continuation of the ''Fifth Gear'' format originally broadcast on Channel 5 from 2002 to 2011, afterwards moving to Discovery Channel in 2012, and then in ...
''
*''Bugs, Bites and Parasites''
*'' X-Ray Mega Airport''
*''Richard Hammond's Big''
See also
* Timeline of Discovery in the UK
References
External links
*
{{Media in the United Kingdom, television
Uk and Ireland
Discovery Channel in the United Kingdom
Television in Iceland
Television stations in Ireland
Television channels and stations established in 1989
Television channel articles with incorrect naming style
Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA