Digital TV Guides

Discovery channel

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

Thursday 10 February, 2011

The award-winning Discovery Channel lets you experience the wonders of the world from your sofa. Whether it’s planet Earth, its people or its history, Discovery is a channel that has something for everyone.

The Discovery Channel is one of the UK’s most watched channels, and its sister channels cover a range of topics, including science, animals, the human body and technology. If you’re looking for educational TV, then Discovery is the place to go.

Most of the Discovery channels are only available in homes with either a Sky or Virgin Media TV subscription however, so if you’ve got Freeview or Freesat but love natural history, you should consider upgrading to a subscription TV package.

Discovery channels

First launched in 1985, the Discovery Channel became home to some of the world’s most popular educational series, including Deadliest Catch and Shark Week - a week of programmes dedicated to sharks, which has been broadcasting annually since 1988.

Discovery also broadcasts additional channels, including Animal Planet, DMAX, Discovery Real Time, Discovery Science, and a high-definition (HD) version of the channel, Discovery HD. Many of the channels also have timeshifted versions, so if you missed your favourite programme first time around, you can catch it an hour later. Some of the channels’ high-lights include:

• Discovery - Tune into Discovery to find out how to endure the wilderness with Born Survivor Bear Grylls, then catch-up with some of the world’s toughest trawler men in Deadliest Catch (pictured), as they battle and brave the stormy seas.


• Animal Planet - From the planet’s smallest creatures to the largest beasts, Animal Planet will keep you entertained with Going Ape, Big Cats and River Monsters.


Animal Planet features everything from the planet’s smallest creatures to the largest beasts
• Discovery Home & Health - With documentaries on everything from birth and the body to barn conversions and bathroom redecorating, click over to Discovery Home & Health for shows like You Are What You Eat and A&E.


• Discovery Science - If you’re into all things science-y, Discovery Science has it covered - with documentaries on dinosaurs, the Mythbusters series and An Idiot Abroad, for a more humorous look at the seven wonders of the World.


• DMAX - If you’re looking for something a little different, DMAX should be your first port of call. Home to weird and the wonderful TV, DMAX broadcasts a range of programmes from Toddlers and Tiaras, American Chopper and Miami Ink.


• Discovery Real Time - Be inspired by practical thinking and extraordinary situations - Discovery Real Time gives you the best lifestyle shows, such as A Place In The Sun, Supernanny and Wife Swap.


• Discovery History - If you’re a fan of history documentaries and series, watch Discovery History for Wartime Secrets with Harry Harris, or find out about ancient civilisations in Time Team with Tony Robinson.


• Discovery Shed - If you’re a petrol head, a mean machine or you’ve just got green fingers, Discovery Shed has a whole host of programmes to suit you - including Tommy Walsh’s Green Homes and Twist The Throttle.

Follow the extreme exploits of the Deadliest Catch trawlers on Discovery

Watching the Discovery Channel

If you want to watch the likes of Bear Grylls and the Deadliest Catch trawler team, you’ll need a subscription to a TV package.

Sky (www.sky.co.uk) customers will be able to get all of the standard definition Discovery channels if they take the Sky Extra. Discovery HD, the high-definition version of the Discovery Channel is available to customers taking the Sky Extra and the Sky HD pack, which costs an additional £10.25 a month.

Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com) homes can also tune into the Discovery channels, as well as timeshifted +1 versions of several channels - meaning you’ll never miss a minute of your favourite shows. The main Discovery Channel is available to all Virgin Media homes taking either the M+, L or XL TV packages. These customers will also get the Discovery Real Time channel. The other channels are only available to certain subscribers however; see the table below for more details.

Virgin Media’s TV packages start from £6.50 a month, when taking a Virgin Media cable phone line (plus rental). It is important to remember that Discovery HD is only available if you have a V+HD or V HD set-top box.

Freeview homes do get access to one of the smaller Discovery channels: Quest. This broadcasts some of the less popular programmes on the Discovery network however, so if you are looking for something a bit more mainstream, it is worth looking at the channels on offer from Sky and Virgin Media.

Sky TV packages		Virgin Media TV packages
from £10 a month + FREE Sky+ box + £25 M&S voucher + FREE installation	from £17.62 a month + FREE Sky+HD box + £25 M&S voucher + FREE installation	from £10 a month + FREE V HD Box + FREE installation + £60 off your bill	from £36.15 a month + FREE V HD Box FREE installation + £60 off your bill
Online exclusive Sky TV - pick one viewing pack	Online exclusive Sky TV - pick one viewing pack Sky HD pack (1/2 price for 6 months)	Virgin Media M+ TV - 75 channels Up to 30Mb speed Unlimited downloads FREE UK weekend calls and calls to Virgin mobiles	Virgin Media XL TV - 175 channels Up to 30Mb speed Unlimited downloads FREE UK weekend calls and calls to Virgin mobiles
Visit Sky.com or call 08442 410582	Visit Sky.com or call 08442 410582	Visit VirginMedia.com	Visit VirginMedia.com