Discovery Channel Germany is the German version of the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...

. It is operated by Warner Bros. Discovery Deutschland, which is located in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. It was launched on 27 August 1996 on the DF1 satellite platform. Back then, the channel was a joint-venture between

Kirch Media KirchGruppe (KirchGroup) was a German media group founded by Leo Kirch (1926–2011) in the 1960s. By 2000, it controlled a 52.5 percent stake in what would become the country's biggest broadcaster. The group collapsed in 2002 largely due to th ...

and

Discovery Communications Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Channe ...

. After DF1 merged with Premiere World in 1999, it remained on the new

Premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its f ...

platform. Kirch Media went bankrupt in 2002 and Discovery Communications subsequently became the sole owner of the channel. The channel was later joined by sister channel with the launch on

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily d ...

in 2004,

Discovery Geschichte Discovery Geschichte ("Discovery History") was a German television channel focusing on history-related programmes owned by Discovery Networks Europe. The channel launched on March 31, 2005, on the Premiere platform. Overview The service was disc ...

in 2005 and

Discovery HD Discovery HD is the international name of the high-definition television channels owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The international Discovery HD (later Discovery HD World in Asia-Pacific markets, ...

in 2006. Discovery Channel was exclusively available through Premiere until 2009, when a new agreement was entered between Premiere and Discovery. The new contract allows the Discovery Channel to broadcast from other providers from 1 July and means that Animal Planet and Discovery Geschichte would disappear from Premiere.

Audience share

Germany

References

External links

Official website
{{Television in Germany Television stations in Germany Television stations in Austria Television stations in Switzerland German-language television stations Television channels and stations established in 1996 Mass media in Munich

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA