National Geographic will close down its pay-TV channel Nat Geo People in German-speaking Europe on September 12, 2017.
The channel’s slots will be taken over by sister channel Nat Geo Wild which will thereby extend its distribution.
As a reason for the move, National Geographic refers to the audience market share of Nat Geo Wild which has considerably increased since the end of 2016. A record figure was reached in March 2017 with an 0.7% market share across the whole month among pay-TV viewers between 14 and 59 years of age. The average viewing time rose to over one hour.
Nat Geo People launched in Germany on April 5, 2014. The channel has been broadcasting on the cable networks of Vodafone (formerly Kabel Deutschland) and Unitymedia where it was already replaced with Nat Geo Wild. In Austria, it has been available on UPC.
Selected first-run TV programmes from Nat Geo People will be shown on National Geographic and Nat Geo Wild in future.