Discovery Communications said Friday that it has completed its acquisition of a controlling interest in international sports programmer EuroSport. The deal, which was announced in January, increases Discovery’s stake in the programmer from 20% to 51%. Discovery had originally purchased the 20% interest in 2012 from parent TF1 and had planned to increase that stake to a controlling interest by 2015. This deal accelerated that timeline by one year.
With the addition of Eurosport’s six pay-TV brands, Eurosport, Eurosport HD, Eurosport 2, Eurosport 2 HD, Eurosport Asia-Pacific and Eurosportnews, Discovery Communications now operates more than 210 worldwide TV networks reaching 2.7 billion cumulative subscribers.
“Today is an exciting day for Discovery Communications and our leadership as the number one pay-TV programmer in the world. Eurosport is a perfect strategic fit for growing market share, strengthening relationships with advertisers and affiliates, and bringing ‘must have’ content to passionate viewers across the globe,” said Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav (pictured) in a statement. “By combining Eurosport’s popular sports programming with Discovery’s global brands and local expertise, we will continue to capitalize on the international growth of pay-TV and create long-term value for our shareholders.”
For the full story go to Multichannel.com.
