After reaching an impasse in recent negotiations between Discovery and StarHub, the latter has announced to cease transmission of all Discovery’s 11 channels on StarHub platforms.

 

“StarHub was not prepared to pay fair value,” said Discovery’s South-East Asia Marketing and Communications Director Charmaine Huet.

 

“All we are asking for is the equivalent of a cup of coffee per customer per month. We have a responsibility to now take the extraordinary step of informing our viewers that they may lose all the Discovery channels they are paying for on StarHub,” she added.

 

Should a resolution not be met between the two companies, StarHub subscribers will no longer be able to watch Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, Discovery Science, Discovery Asia, Eurosport and Setanta on both StarHub TV and streaming service StarHub Go, all after June 30.

 

Discovery’s expanded lifestyle offering – with the recent addition of HGTV, Asian Food Channel, Food Network, and Travel Channel – will also no longer be available on StarHub platforms after August 31. Discovery currently makes up a large part of StarHub’s English PayTV space and comprises a significant portion of Lifestyle channels.

 

In Singapore, Discovery’s portfolio of channels reached over 1.3 million viewers in the past year, driven by the top five flagship channels – Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, Asian Food Channel and HGTV. Despite a downward trend in overall English pay TV ratings, the combined Discovery portfolio showed a 10% increase in ratings this year. Viewership data also showed that Discovery’s flagship channels have strong affinity with core target audiences.

 

Shows like Fast ‘N’ Loud and Running Wild With Bear Grylls on Discovery Channel, Cake Boss and Say Yes To The Dress on TLC, Tanked and My Cat From Hell on Animal Planet, Property Brothers and Fixer Upper on HGTV, Family Kitchen With Sherson and Cooking For Love on Asian Food Channel are popular and have garnered huge followings. But fans who use StarHub platforms are set to lose these shows, especially with the much-anticipated annual Shark Week coming up in July.

 

Despite StarHub’s announcement, Discovery still hope to resume discussions so that StarHub viewers can continue to enjoy their much-loved shows from Discovery. In the meantime, fans can still watch Discovery’s channels on Singtel TV. Singtel subscribers currently enjoy Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, Discovery Science, Discovery Asia, Eve, DMAX, and Eurosport on other broadcast platforms in Singapore.

 

In addition, a selection of Discovery programmes and previous seasons of hit series are available via Discovery Watch Now/Discovery Watch Now Binge on the Discovery Channel Asia website (www.discoverychannelasia.com).