Raft of MENA launches for Discovery

Discovery Communications has announced a raft of carriage deals for its channels in the MENA region, adding six to the fledgling entertainment service from beIN, and two new brands to longstanding platform operator OSN.

The beIN pay TV service branched out from sport and launched its entertainment line-up last November. It has now added six Discovery services, five of which it will have on an exclusive basis: Discovery Kids, Dlife, DMAX, DTX and an HD version of lifestyle channel Fatafeat.

JB Perrette, president of Discovery Networks International, said: “In partnership with beIN, we are providing a stronger offer to our viewers and commercial partners, and we look forward to working alongside beIN to increase the reach of our content in the Middle East and Africa.”

OSN will swap out two Discovery channels, adding new brands Discovery Family HD and IDX HD.

The new channels on OSN will join the existing Discovery offering on the platform, which comprises Discovery Channel, TLC and Discovery Science, which are exclusive to OSN, and the Animal Planet service, which is also carried.

Discovery Family, which replaces Discovery World, is a family entertainment channel with programming ranging from space adventures and pop science, to tales of animals in the wild. IDX is a true crime channel that replaces the ID: Investigation Discovery service.

The two new additions will be exclusive to OSN. OSN has been adding its own and new third-party channels recently, with BBC First, OSN First Home of HBO, OSN Yahala Cinema, OSN Movies Family and H2 all new offerings on the pay TV service

Emad Morcos, senior VP, media partners and digital, OSN, said: “The exclusive launch of two new channels and the introduction of new content, available across all our platforms, gives us a definitive edge as the go-to destination for thoughtfully executed and intensely researched programmes that are a signature of Discovery.”