Discovery Communications is known in the U.S. for its namesake network and cable outlets like TLC and Animal Planet, but the Maryland-based company has become a major player in European sports with its recent acquisition of pan-continental network Eurosport. Discovery President & CEO David Zaslav was featured in a one-on-one interview during Day 1 of the ’14 NeuLion Sports Media & Technology Conference and talked about Discovery’s role in foreign markets. He said, “Eurosport has between two and four channels in 70 countries. So if you’re the speedskating federation, and you want that sport to be carried, you can do a deal in every country in Eastern and Western Europe, or you can do a deal with us and be carried everywhere.” The scale of Eurosport also is important for Discovery, as it has 213 million subs, which compares to something like ESPN in the U.S., which has around 100 million. Zaslav: “The strategy is that we have the equivalent of ESPN across all of Europe. Then, we have the equivalent of a regional sports network in a number of countries. So, while baseball would anchor YES Network in New York, we go into Sweden and anchor a network with hockey and ski jumping and speedskating. … So we have both, and it gives you scale and promotability. … But sometimes we do the opposite model. Take the Bundesliga. It’s very expensive and was a key asset for Sky Deutschland in Germany. And they do a good job with it. … We bought the rights in non-German speaking countries. … While it’s not the top programming in some countries, when you go throughout Europe, soccer is pretty popular. So when you look at a place like Italy, Bundesliga programming is still pretty popular.”
NOT MUCH DESIRE FOR U.S. SPORTS: As far as an appetite for U.S. sports on European TV, Zaslav was less than enthusiastic. He said, “Our first priority is local, local, local. … Cross-country skiing is everything in Northern Europe, especially places like Norway and Denmark.” He noted the NHL also does “really well in Northern Europe, and former NBA Commissioner David Stern “in certain markets … did a good job of building the NBA.” Zaslav: “But the game changer for us is going to be local content and big-European content, whether it’s tennis or more soccer. And then we can bleed in, or maybe even nourish, some of the U.S. sports and build them up, but it’s not going to be the lead horse.”
OVER-THE-TOP IN EUROPE? Zaslav said the ability to “take content directly to consumers is powerful.” He said, “We bought control of Eurosport not just for the channels, but because we control the intellectual property. We created a Eurosport app and we’re doing quite well. We charge a monthly fee and it’s all-you-can-eat. All the content. ... And we’re just getting started. We don’t know how people want to consume content outside the traditional TV. It may be that there is a tennis package over the next few years; a winter sports package; a cycling package; a track and field package. But we can decide that, because we own the IP.” But Zaslav was hesitant on the concept of unbundling the traditional cable package. Zaslav: “The idea of loads of channels going directly to consumers is just not manageable -- for the consumer. There is a curation factor that has to happen for all of us. … People still only watch six to eight channels. We just cannot digest 26 channels. And so we curate on linear TV with our favorites, and they change. … The idea that any of us will have our phone and have a bunch of different apps for the channels we like is just very unlikely.”
TRENDS TO WATCH: While admitting there is a “lot of conflicting research,” Zaslav said people are “still watching more TV than they ever have.” He added, “Outside of the U.S., which is important for us, there are a lot of markets where HD is just rolling out. … We’re pushing hard internationally because the market in the U.S. is pretty crowded for sports, and it’s a pretty crowded market, period. But take a place like Brazil, and we own 12 of the 40 channels. When they offer a package of 20, we own six of them. We have five of the top 15 networks.”
