U.S. media giant Discovery and German pay-TV operator ProSiebenSat.1 are launching in June an online TV service in Germany dubbed “Joyn.”
The service — similar to Sling TV, DirecTV Now, etc. in the United States — replaces 7TV and will feature about 50 channels streaming content seven days ahead of pay-TV and available on VOD for 30 days.
With a goal of 10 million subscribers, “Joyn” will feature original content as well as movie services Maxdome and Eurosport Player. It will be accessible on TVs, smartphones, tablets and the Internet.
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Netflix currently has about 2.6 million German subs, while Amazon Prime Video has about 3.3 million.
“We are aiming to transform the German video entertainment market,” Alexandar Vassilev, managing director of Joyn, said in a statement.“Our focus is exclusively on the needs of our audiences and we commit to actively listen and reflect their feedback as we make our platform a success.”
For Discovery, the move represents another step integrating internal brands in Europe through over-the-top video distribution.
The parent to HGTV, Food Network and DIY Network, among others, earlier this year bowed Home & Garden TV in Germany, including a series of localized reality TV shows centered around home improvement.