Eurosport 1 HD and TLC HD will be available unencrypted and free of charge to DTH households across Europe on the Astra satellite system (19.2° East) during the Olympic Winter Games between February 9 and 25, 2018.
The agreement to drop the encryption was made between Discovery Networks Deutschland and German DTH platform HD+ on which the German versions of both channels are offered to satellite households.
As the Home of the Olympics, Discovery und Eurosport transmit more than 450 hours live from PyeongChang on Eurosport 1 HD and TLC HD. HD+ customers signed up for the Eurosport package can receive more than 100 additional hours of live coverage on pay-TV channel Eurosport 2 HD Xtra.
The move is part of a major push by Discovery Networks Deutschland to make its Olympic programmes available to as many households as possible in Germany, enabling the commercial broadcaster to compete head-on with the Olympic coverage of public broadcasters ARD and ZDF.
Eurosport 1 and TLC are offered as ad-supported free-to-air channels in Germany in SD resolution while the HD versions form part of encrypted subscription packages.
Further German platform operators providing Eurosport 1 HD free and at no extra charge to viewers during the Olympics include Vodafone Deutschland, Unitymedia, Deutsche Telekom (Entertain TV) and Freenet TV.
