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Eurosport jumps to Fetch after ending relationship with Foxtel

After Foxtel announced it would not be renewing its contract for Discovery’s Eurosport channel in 2019, Fetch TV has revealed it will be the new home of the sports channel, as a result of its ongoing agreement with Discovery.

The move sees the partnership between Discovery and Fetch TV expand to eight channels, as of February 1.

Eurosport will now live on Fetch TV

Eurosport carries a large number of ‘passion sports’, which includes winter sports, cycling, athletics and snooker. The new partnership will see Fetch TV able to offer exclusive rights to some events, including major cycling events.

Fetch TV and Eurosport will also show major international athletics events, ad-free cycling coverage and the world’s biggest snooker tournaments, as well as the winter sports World Cup.

Rebecca Kent, general manager of Discovery Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands said the channel has a number of diehard fans who will follow it to its new home.

“We are thrilled that Eurosport has a new Australian home with Fetch TV as we expand our partnership,” said Kent.

“Eurosport has a loyal audience of Aussies who are extremely passionate about sports like cycling, athletics, snooker and winter sports. We believe that every fan counts and are proud to continue fuelling their passions by delivering a line-up of premium events throughout the year.”

Scott Lorson, CEO of Fetch TV, said the platform was very excited to be expanding the partnership.

“Fetch TV is very excited about our expanding relationship with Discovery, and look forward to adding Eurosport, Discovery Turbo, and Investigation Discovery to the Fetch platform over the next two months.” said Lorson.

“Eurosport has been one of our most requested channel additions, and we are pleased to be able to service this passionate fan base. Eurosport continues to invest in premium content and the future is bright with expanding rights, and compelling coverage.

“Eurosport is a perfect complement to our existing premium international sports offering, and will join Optus Sport, ESPN, EDGESport, beIN SPORTS, and UFC pay-per-view on the Fetch platform.”

Eurosport will be available on Fetch channel 156 on a free trial basis to all Fetch direct retail customers throughout the month of February. It will then be offered as a special interest channel for $8.99 per month. Fetch partner ISP launch dates will be confirmed shortly.

The relationship breakdown between Eurosport and Foxtel was revealed in December 2019, with Foxtel quietly ending its agreement with Discovery. A statement from Eurosport at the time said the decision was Foxtel’s and that Eurosport was unhappy to be ‘disappointing its fans’.

A report from the Sydney Morning Herald at the time said the channel was in discussions with Fetch TV. Foxtel revealed it would be scaling down its costs for 2020 following significant losses in 2019.

The addition of Eurosport to Fetch brings the partnership between Discovery and Fetch TV to eight channels. This follows the December announcement of the renewal of Discovery Channel, TLC, HGTV, Food Network and Travel Channel on Fetch, as well as the upcoming 1 March launch of Discovery Turbo and Investigation Discovery (ID). There will also be an expansion in video-on-demand rights.

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