Deadline day: Sky and Discovery close in on 11th hour deal

Sky and Discovery are closing in on a last-minute deal to save the likes of Eurosport and Animal Planet from the UK’s screens.

The two media giants are in the middle of an embarrassing spat over the future of Discovery’s channels on the Sky platform.

Last Wednesday Discovery hit out at Sky, saying it was not offering enough as part of new contract negotiations, adding “somebody has to stand up for consumers”.

Sky responded by taking the unusual step of revealing Discovery wanted £1bn from the Brentford-based media giant to deliver its 12 channels to Sky customers under the terms of a new contract. Discovery has subsequently denied such claims.

However, sources close to the deal told City A.M. this morning that both sides have agreed to roll back on publicly confrontational messages and there is renewed hope a deal can be struck.

“Things have stepped back,” one source said.

Meanwhile a separate source added: “Negotiations are ongoing. It’s going to go down to the wire.”

If a deal cannot be struck today, Discovery channels will no longer be available to Sky customers from 1 February.