Discovery World (international TV channel)

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Discovery World
Broadcast area
HeadquartersAmsterdam, Netherlands
Programming
Language(s)English, Polish, Hungarian, Czech, Russian
Picture format576i 16:9 SDTV
Ownership
OwnerWarner Bros. Discovery (Discovery, Inc. at the time)
Sister channels
History
Launched1 October 1998; 25 years ago (1998-10-01)
Closed31 December 2020; 3 years ago (2020-12-31)
Replaced by
Former namesDiscovery Civilisation Channel (1998-2008)
Availability
(at time of closure)
Streaming media
Ziggo GO NetherlandsZiggoGO.tv (Europe only)

Discovery World is a former European pay television channel which featured programming in the fields of travel, culture and history. It used to be a pan-European television channel. Discovery World offered a mix of history, culture, real-life stories, investigation, mystery shows, factual series and documentaries. At time of closure its programming was mainly in English and subtitled in Dutch.

History[edit]

In Europe the channel started as Discovery Civilisation, also called Discovery Civilisation Channel, in the UK the 1 October 1998, alongside the Sky Digital's launch and later followed by other European countries.[1] Discovery Civilisation focused on history-related programmes. On 1 November 2007, it was re-branded as Discovery Knowledge in the UK.[2][3] On 18 April 2008 Discovery Civilisation changed its name into Discovery World across Europe and extended its programme lineup to also include programmes about culture, crime and "mysterious phenomena".[4][5][6]

In 2013, the channel got replaced by Discovery Turbo Xtra in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2015 the Canadian version was relaunched as Discovery Velocity.[7] On 31 March 2016, the channel got replaced by Discovery Family in Africa and the Middle East.[8] The network has closed down in Italy,[9] Portugal[10] and Scandinavia.[11]

Discovery World, along with Fine Living closed on 31 December 2020, when it last aired in the Netherlands and Belgium.[12]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Which TV channels were on sky digital at launch ?". Digital Spy Forums. January 2, 2011.
  2. ^ "Discovery launches Knowledge channel". Digital Spy. 20 September 2007.
  3. ^ "Discovery Knowledge". Heavenly. Archived from the original on 14 September 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  4. ^ "DNI Fast Facts: EMEA" (PDF). Discovery Communications. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
  5. ^ "Kanalbyte hos Discovery". Resumé. April 18, 2008. Archived from the original on December 25, 2008.
  6. ^ Jan-Hein Visser (April 17, 2008). "Discovery Civilisation wordt Discovery World". Totaal TV.
  7. ^ "High Stakes Adventure, Precision Machines, Raw Power: Specialty Service Discovery Velocity Launches February 12". Press release. Retrieved 20 January 2015.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "DStv replaces Discovery World with Discovery Family". Telecompaper. March 28, 2016.
  9. ^ "Change Log Discovery World Italia". KingOfSat.net. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  10. ^ "Change Log Discovery World Portugal". KingOfSat.net. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  11. ^ "Change Log Discovery World Nordic". KingOfSat.net. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  12. ^ Jarco Kriek (25 November 2020). "Zender minder bij Ziggo, KPN en T-Mobile: Discovery World stopt" (in Dutch). TotaalTV.nl. Retrieved 26 November 2020.