Eurosport finds a new Aussie home on Fetch after Foxtel pulled the pin

Late last year Foxtel announced quietly that they would be discontinuing the Eurosport channel as part of a new channel refresh and a new contract with Discovery networks (owner of Eurosport).

The reason was probably quite simple – viewer numbers. Across the many Foxtel Channels, their audience is spread thin, so the numbers on Eurosport probably don’t stack up at all well against the rest of the sports channels.

It could also be that Discovery wanted a bigger slice of the revenue pie from Foxtel too – especially likely given the deal they’ve done with Fetch – more on that later.

And while many people might not care, the channel carried a large number of sports like winter sports and some cycling, snooker, as well as motorsports that can’t be found anywhere else.

Today, Discovery announced Eurosport had a new home – Fetch.

From Saturday February 1st, Eurosport would be part of an eight-channel Discovery portfolio on the subscription channel package available to Fetch owners.

Eurosport say they have a big 2020 coming up:

• Major international athletics events throughout the year, beginning with the World Indoor Tour events in Germany in February;
• ad-break-free live stage coverage of key cycling events including two Grand Tours – the Giro d’Italia in May (exclusive to Eurosport) and the Vuelta a España in August – plus all Spring Classics and Monuments;
• the world’s biggest snooker tournaments including the World Championships in May;
• the final events in the winter sports World Cup seasons including Freestyle Skiing, Snowboarding, Alpine Skiing, Ski Jumping and more.

Needless to say, they’re happy to have found a place for Eurosport viewers to get the channel: “We are thrilled that Eurosport has a new Australian home with Fetch TV as we expand our partnership,” said Rebecca Kent, General Manager of Discovery in Australia.

“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.”

The boss of Fetch Scott Lorson echoed those comments saying “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.”

“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.”

There is a catch of sorts. Eurosport will be an individual A La Carte channel which you can pay $8.99 per month for. So it’s not bundled with other packs, you’ve gotta really want your Eurosport!