Discovery continues its push into digital with Sling TV carriage deal

Discovery Inc. has made a series of big moves into streaming video over the last month—launching several new TV Everywhere apps, licensing a big catalog of shows to free, ad-supported streamer Pluto TV, and announcing its GolfTV SVOD service for non-U.S. markets—and launched three of its most popular channels today on streamer Sling TV.“We’re growing very effectively, but we haven’t overinvested in content because we do believe that we need to reach these 4 billion devices,” Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav said, holding up his smartphone in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box this morning. “The best way to reach that is to have stuff that people really, really want.”Zaslav highlighted Discovery’s strategic investments in sports and nonscripted video and distribution of that content on smartphones and other digital devices as keys to the company’s success over the last several years. Discovery completed its acquisition of Scripps Network Interactive in March 2018 and has moved quickly to streamline the company’s content delivery across a broad range of digital channels.Discovery’s new carriage deal with Dish Network’s Sling TV streamer includes placement of its three popular channels Discovery Channel, Investigation Discovery and TLC on Sling Orange and Sling Blue, which are Sling TV’s $25-a-month base plans. Five other Discovery channels are now available on the service’s various premium tiers.