The television market, be it services offered by operators or exclusive streaming services, is red hot. Nobody wants to be left out of a very attractive market that is changing the way users watch television. The most traditional platforms do not lose sight of the new actors to try to reach agreements with them to include their content. In this way, everyone wins. The latest alliance that we know of is the agreement between Vodafone and Discovery to include the discovery + streaming service in 12 European markets.
Vodafone will have a new ally in its battle to be the world’s largest content aggregator. All of them can be seen both in the Vodafone decoder and in the applications for mobile phones or Smart TV. In addition, it may be a good opportunity to expand the amount of 4K channels and content on Vodafone TV , a category that has been quite “stationary” throughout 2020.
Historic alliance between Discovery and Vodafone
Discovery and Vodafone have just announced a historic alliance that includes the new streaming service, discovery +, in 12 European markets with access to 100 million homes. The idea is to strengthen its current commercial relationship with direct-to-consumer distribution for the first time, thus improving the traditional offer of content on television. This is a long-term agreement whereby Discovery + will be launched in several countries throughout 2021.
Those countries are the United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Romania, Portugal, Greece, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland and Iceland. Vodafone TV users and Vodafone mobile phone customers will be able to enjoy the best content and entertainment series about real life as well as Eurosport’s premium sports offering, all in one place.
At the moment, no commercial details of the agreement have been specified, that is, if it will be included for free or if we will have to pay something as Vodafone customers in Spain. We do not have an exact launch date either, but it will be during the first months of 2021. In addition, this does not affect the Discovery linear channels that will continue to be available to Vodafone customers on television in Germany, Italy, Spain, Romania, Portugal, Greece, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland and Iceland.
David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery, said: “We are delighted to announce this multi-territorial and multi-platform partnership with Europe’s largest fixed and mobile network operator. Vodafone’s long and deep relationships with consumers will provide a powerful engine for discovery + as together we bring the ultimate destination of real life entertainment to consumers across Europe. Our hybrid agreement with Vodafone advances our strategy to expand our linear distribution relationships to bring our content to consumers across more platforms and devices. ”
For his part, Ahmed Essam, Head of Commercial Operations and Strategies of the Vodafone Group, has been “delighted to announce this multi-territorial and multi-platform partnership with the largest mobile and fixed network operator in Europe. Vodafone’s long and deep relationships with consumers will provide a powerful engine for discovery +, as together we bring the ultimate destination of real life entertainment to consumers across Europe. Our hybrid agreement with Vodafone advances our strategy to expand our linear distribution relationships to bring our content to consumers across more platforms and devices.
