Premiere has signed new distribution agreements with National Geographic and Discovery.
Nat Geo joins Premiere, soon to be rebranded as Sky Deutschland, for the first time tomorrow (May 16). The new agreement with Discovery, which followed a period of uncertainty, keeps Discovery Channel and Discovery HD on the platform for the foreseeable future.
However, Discovery Geschichte and Animal Planetwill no longer be available on the platform; last week Discovery Geschichte was switch off and Animal Planet will cease on June 30 on Premiere-Sky. The two channels, as well as Discovery Channel, will be available for distribution on other platforms.
Premiere has given more details of its rebranding that will take effect in July. While the company will be renamed from Premiere AG to Sky Deutschland AG, subscribers will see the on-air name Sky. The move is subject to board approval and will require a €256.1m write-off of the value of the Premiere brand.
The Sky brand and associated trademarks have been licensed from BSkyB.