Discovery and Sky reach deal in the UK, ending blackout risk

(Reuters) - Discovery Communication Inc's UK unit on Tuesday said it had reached a new carriage deal with Sky Plc, ending an impasse over pricing that had risked a blackout of all Discovery channels from Sky's platform. Less than a week ago a representative for Sky said that the pay-TV company viewed the price expectations for the Discovery portfolio as unrealistic, saying Sky had overpaid Discovery for years. Discovery said it was paid less by Sky now than it was 10 years ago. All 12 channels in the Discovery portfolio would have disappeared from Sky and NOW TV after Jan.31 if no deal had been reached. "The deal has been concluded on the right terms after Discovery accepted the proposal we gave them over a week ago," Stephen van Rooyen, CEO of Sky UK and Ireland, said in an e-mailed statement to Reuters. The deal also includes Discovery's four pay-TV channels in Germany, Discovery UK said. "Our new arrangement enables us to control our destiny in more ways, with even more opportunities to invest and launch channels and consumer services," a Discovery spokesperson said in a statement. (Reporting by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru; editing by Richard Lough)