Tricolor turned off discovery. Tricolor TV launches Eurosport, Discovery Channel and TLC in HD format

18.08.2021

Channels that are disconnected from the operator also include Eurosport and TLC. An agreement on revenue sharing was not reached and the operator had to abandon an entire package of channels. The information was confirmed by the Media Alliance, whose group includes TV channels.

Previously, cooperation took place according to a revenue sharing system - Tricolor paid part of the funds received from subscribers to Media Alliance. At the moment, the latter’s general director, Grigory Lavrov, said that the satellite operator has put forward conditions under which further cooperation is impossible.

Representatives of Tricolor simply told subscribers that the package provided similar educational channels.

Let us clarify that among the channels that Tricolor abandoned are the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Eurosport and the women's channel TLC.

Discovery is a large-scale market player. Earning a lot from advertising, he also keeps about 0.37% of all Russians on television screens (data for January-October of this year).

Tricolor, whose army consists of a third of the entire pay TV market, behaves very ambiguously. For example, at the beginning of autumn of this year, the operator announced the suspension of broadcasting of a number of TV channels - “My Planet”, “Science 2.0”, “Russian Roman”, etc. due to the revision of contracts with partners. At the same time, the operator assured that these channels will be provided with a worthy replacement, and in addition, the content will be expanded through Tricolor’s own channels. The situation was later resolved, but this is not the first time that the operator is not understood by both VGTRK representatives and its own subscribers.

The largest Russian digital television operator, Tricolor TV, has begun broadcasting some of the most popular TV channels in the Discovery Networks portfolio in high definition format. TV channels Eurosport HD, Discovery Channel HD and TLC HD are available to Tricolor TV subscribers in the operator’s main package - “Unified”*.
Eurosport is a leading sports multimedia platform, offering content from over 120 sports and sporting events from around the world. Eurosport boasts the widest range of programs covering the 7 pillars of modern sport – tennis, cycling, football, winter sports, summer Olympic sports, motorsports, motorsports and snooker. Eurosport broadcasts are commentated by world-class experts, and both the leading athletes of our time and the champions of tomorrow constantly appear on camera. Eurosport is ahead of all paid sports channels in the “all 18+” category in terms of TV viewing share. Until August 9 inclusive, the Eurosport TV channel is broadcasting the 16th World Aquatics Championships, the largest international competition taking place in Kazan. From 22 August to 13 September, cycling enthusiasts will be able to fully immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the famous Vuelta cycling race, watching the best cyclists from around the world compete over a distance of more than 3,300 km. From 22 to 30 August, Eurosport will cover the World Athletics Championships. All preliminary competitions and finals will be shown live; throughout the championship, viewers will be treated to a detailed overview of the events as part of the hour-long thematic program “Athletics. World Championship. Best of the day."
Discovery Channel is the founder of the educational and entertainment genre on television, TV channel No. 1 among paid channels in Russia among the male audience 20-49 in terms of TV viewing share. Discovery Channel immerses you in a world of stories from experts, pioneers and explorers that inspire, excite the imagination and provide food for thought. In August, the channel's viewers will enjoy the famous "Shark Week", as well as the tenth anniversary season of the hit show "MythBusters". This season Adam and Jamie will test myths inspired by the cult series "The Simpsons", the iconic saga "Star Wars" and the legendary films about Indiana Jones. In September, famous actor Idris Elba will challenge all four elements and set a land speed record in the new Discovery Channel project “Idris Elba: No Brakes.” The premiere of "Treasure Quest: Snake Island" will take viewers to the southeast of Brazil along with a team of desperate Incan treasure hunters. Later this year, Discovery Channel will premiere exclusively on television the eco-thriller Race to Extinction, a new documentary from director Louis Sayhoyos, the director of The Cove, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2010.
TLC is the No. 1 women's paid lifestyle channel in Russia in terms of TV viewing share and monthly reach. TLC entertains through content that is bold and unexpected, vibrant and eye-catching. It draws you into watching - so that it is impossible to tear yourself away. TLC breaks new ground by delivering authentic, real-life scenes that are truly engaging and relatable through inspiring characters and compelling stories. In August, viewers can expect the premiere of the “Runway 30+” program, which will talk about how to become a successful model if you are in your early thirties, and the new season of the TLC channel’s hit show, Emmy Award winner, “Life is not easy for short people!” » about the difficult but fascinating life of the Rolloff family. In September, the premieres of programs filmed in Russia will take place: “Real Adoption” and the continuation of the project “IVF in Russia: Expecting a Child,” which will tell you how to find family happiness by becoming happy parents. The new television season on TLC promises to be truly delicious with celebrity chef Buddy Valastro and the premiere episodes of his show “The Pastry King.” This time Buddy and his team will face a difficult test - a hand-painted matryoshka cake!
To watch new TV channels, the operator's subscribers need to update the list of TV channels in the receiver interface. The total subscriber base of Tricolor TV at the end of the second quarter of 2015 amounted to 11.415 million Russian households.
Mikhail Goryachev, director of content at Tricolor TV: “We included these three TV channels in our network, which are certainly popular in their segment, due to numerous requests from our subscribers, while the cost of the main package “Unified” remained the same. I would like to note that these TV channels broadcast in high definition. Never before have Russian TV viewers had such an abundance of high-quality HD channels at an affordable price.”
Grigory Lavrov, senior director of Discovery Networks channels in North-Eastern Europe: “We are very pleased that Tricolor TV subscribers have access to high-quality, entertaining and exciting content from our TV channels. Now Tricolor TV subscribers will not miss the most iconic sporting events thanks to Eurosport, the most high-profile premieres of the Discovery Channel and will discover the fascinating world of TLC, and HD quality will make the viewing experience even brighter.”

* Discovery Channel HD and TLC HD are available to the operator's subscribers living in the Eutelsat 36A/36B coverage area and using HDTV-enabled receiving equipment; Eurosport HD is available to the operator's subscribers living in the coverage area of Eutelsat 36A/36B and Express-AT1 and using receiving equipment with HDTV support.

The largest pay television operator, Tricolor TV, will stop broadcasting Discovery family channels, including TLC and Eurosport, from December 1. The partners were unable to agree on how to divide revenue from subscription fees.

The National Satellite Company (Tricolor TV brand) will stop broadcasting Discovery Group channels from December 1. A representative of Media Alliance (manages the Discovery channel group) confirmed this information, clarifying that the contract with Tricolor expires on November 30 and the company has decided not to renew it.

The parties worked on a revenue sharing model: the operator, receiving subscription fees from subscribers, shared it with Media Alliance. "Tricolor TV" put forward "unacceptable conditions," the operator's proposal "puts it in a privileged position in relation to the entire market," Media Alliance CEO Grigory Lavrov told Kommersant. Viewers, connecting to digital television, pay, first of all, for content, choosing an operator from a list of channels, he argues.

The channel was removed from the Tricolor network due to the expiration of the contract with the rights holder, a representative of the operator said. According to him, the main package includes analogues with educational content.

The Discovery Group includes the educational and entertainment channel Discovery Channel, the wildlife channel Animal Planet, the women's entertainment channel TLC and Eurosport. In Russia, they are managed by Media Alliance, a joint venture of the National Media Group (NMG) and Discovery Communications. Until 2015, the latter owned the Russian versions of its channels entirely, but the law restricting foreigners in Russian media forced it to cede 80% of the business to NMG. Media Alliance also manages the Turner group's channels (Cartoon Network, Boomerang and CNN), but they are distributed under a separate contract.

In addition to subscriptions, Discovery also makes money from advertising. The Association of Russian Communication Agencies estimated its volume on cable and satellite TV channels for the first three quarters of this year at 2.45 billion rubles - 64% more than a year earlier. Discovery is one of the big players in this segment. According to TNS Russia, in January-October it ranked eighth in terms of audience among almost three hundred niche channels with a share of 0.37% (the share of viewers from all Russians over four years old with the TV turned on).

NTV-Plus CEO Mikhail Demin calls Discovery a “system-forming player.” MTS does not comment on its relationship with Discovery. At the same time, disputes between pay TV operators and content producers arise almost every year. The situation worsened in the fall of 2014, when a sharp rise in the exchange rate of the currency in which many contracts were denominated led to widespread price revisions. As a result, for example, Akado turned off Viasat channels and resumed broadcasting only last August.

Broadcasters also have questions about Tricolor. This is the largest satellite television operator in Russia; its subscriber base at the end of 2015 amounted to 11.8 million subscribers, which is approximately a third of the pay TV market, iKS-Consulting calculated. Last September, Tricolor began notifying subscribers about the “suspension of broadcasting” of popular thematic channels of VGTRK, including “Russian Novel”, “My Planet”, “Science 2.0”, etc., “in connection with negotiations with the copyright holder to extend cooperation.” On its website, the operator reported that it was ready to provide a “high-quality replacement,” including by expanding film content on its own production channels. A top manager at VGTRK then, in a conversation with Kommersant, expressed bewilderment: the state-owned company did not discuss the termination of the contract and “did not understand what the problem was.” However, a week later, a representative of Tricolor said that “extension of the contract is a normal situation”; the parties settled it.

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Tricolor turned off discovery. Tricolor TV launches Eurosport, Discovery Channel and TLC in HD format

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