AT&T exceeded its target for HBO and HBO Max subscribers in 2021. It reached 73.8 million subscribers worldwide at year-end, compared to earlier guidance to reach the high end of its targeted range of 70-73 million subscribers. Along with other Time Warner assets, HBO will soon be spun out of AT&T into the new Discovery […]
Polish president Andrzej Duda has vetoed a bill on international media ownership that would have forced Discovery to sell its majority stake in Poland’s biggest independent broadcaster, TVN. Duda said he had decided to use his veto, warning that the bill could breach a deal on trade relations that Poland had signed with the US. […]
The European Commission (EC) has granted unconditional antitrust clearance of Discovery’s proposed acquisition of AT&T’s WarnerMedia business. “Approval from the European Commission is a key milestone toward completing our proposed transaction with AT&T,” said David Zaslav, President and Chief Executive Officer of Discovery, and the future CEO of the combined company. “Today we move one […]
The number of Italian subscribers to SVoD platforms amounted to 13.7 million at the end of October 2021, a growth of three million compared to a year ago. Research conducted by EY also reveals that the number of SVoD users reached 17.4 million, while unique subscribers totaled 7.8 million, up by 1.2 million and 800,000, […]
Parks Associates has released its updated list of the top 10 US paid subscription OTT video services, based on estimated numbers of subscribers through September 2021 from the firm’s OTT Video Market Tracker. The research firm reports that based on quarterly surveys of 10,000 US broadband households, more than 80 per cent of broadband households […]
I signed off last year’s last blog with “I make no predictions for 2021, including ‘at least it can’t be worse’”. That was a good decision. Who’d have thought we’d all be here at the end of 2021 having missed Vegas, Cologne and Amsterdam, again. Any bets on the 2022 travel itinerary? No, didn’t think […]
Discovery has reached an agreement with Italian public broadcaster RAI to sublease the TV rights it holds for the Beijing 2022 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In June 2015, the US media company paid €1.3 billion for the European TV rights to the Olympics through 2024. According to Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore, the […]
Discovery, the multichannel broadcaster, is potentially facing having to sell off its business in Poland – specifically the TVN Group – following the surprise parliamentary greenlight for controversial new legislation. Known as Lex-TVN, the bill seeks to ban non-European ownership of Polish media companies. The Sejm, Poland’s parliament, voted in favour 229-212 with 11 abstentions […]
Discovery and VIZIO have announced that SVoD service discovery+ is now available to VIZIO SmartCast users across the US. As part of the launch, VIZIO will feature a unique content experience on the SmartCast home screen. The dedicated carousel, ‘Discover More on discovery+,; will showcase the content portfolio and introduce users to the best-of discovery+ […]
SiriusXM and Discovery are teaming up for subscription offers in the US that deliver content from both companies. Eligible new and existing subscribers to SiriusXM’s Platinum VIP plan will have the opportunity to activate a complimentary 12-month subscription to discovery+, the definitive non-fiction, real-life subscription streaming service. SiriusXM will also be offering special promotions that […]