It was not long before Sky pay-TV provider expanded its range of brands to include two additional programs. Sky Comedy and Sky Crime launched in April. Almost six months later, the next expansion is on the agenda. The two new programs Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature are now on the air. For Elke Walthelm, who works as a program manager at Sky, a kind of heart affair. The director told reporters at a news conference in mid-July: “We had a lot of fun filling the issue of Sky documentaries.”

What can I see in Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature?

Documentaries Sky and Sky Nature focus on high quality documentation. In Sky documentaries, the focus is above all on the news. But also political documentaries, ideas about the lives of celebrities and sports documentaries. Licensing partners include HBO and Showtime, who also contribute the series’ current content to the current Sky program.

Sky Nature, on the other hand – the name says it all – focuses on anything to do with flora and fauna. Content from nature, the environment and the animal kingdom should be displayed there. There must also be room for sustainability, animal protection and the environment for content. In addition to content from licensing partner ZDF Enterprises, Sky has also secured many exclusive broadcast rights from Love Nature and the BBC. Numerous documentaries by the popular British director and naturalist Sir David Attenborough complete the Sky Nature program.

Sky not only wants to buy content, but also to produce new documentaries. In the next twelve months, twelve exclusive in-house productions are planned, which can only be screened with a subscription to Sky. In total, Sky promises an additional 1,600 hours of programming with new documentaries – 500 of which are exclusive.

Documentary snapshots in the first weeks

One of the highlights of the program is probably “SaFahri – A Journey to the Elements”. Actor Fahri Yardim – one or the other will get to know him from Telekom’s current MagentaTV commercials – travels to different parts of Germany. There he experiences nature, from which he says he has already become alienated, in a completely new way. For him, as a city boy from Hamburg, it was not only a fascinating but also a moving journey. Yardim has to leave his comfort zone and dive into the sometimes not so comfortable elements of nature.

In the case of Sky Documentaries, things will become political from the autumn when Sky’s original production “The Ibiza Video: A Journalistic Crime” reports the biggest Austrian political scandal in post-war history. revealed by the Süddeutsche Zeitung and the Spiegel. He ousted not only the Austrian FPÖ vice-president Heinz-Christian Strache, but also the entire government of the country.

Also in the fall, Sky Documentaries will air a new episode of “Her Story” – this time with journalist Dunya Hayali. The documentary “Tina” about the superstar Tina Turner will follow in early 2022. Later in the year 2022, the broadcast of Sky Original “Cruise into Disaster – The Last Night of the Costa Concordia” is scheduled. The facts surrounding the tragic shipwreck on the Italian island of Giglio are being reconstructed here.

How do I get Sky Docoumentaries and Sky Nature?

The bad news is: Like all Sky channels, Documentaries Sky and Sky Nature can only be shown if you are willing to spend extra money on TV. In other words: You must select a classic pay-TV subscription (Sky Q / Sky Go) or a streaming subscription (Sky Ticket). Only then will you have access to the two new programs.

In this context, it is also important to mention that Sky and Sky Nature Documentaries are commercially available as part of Sky’s core offering. Pay-TV customers do not need to book an additional program package, as the two new station brands are available as part of the mandatory entertainment package. On the one hand in the form of linear TV channels, but of course all the content and on request. Sky Ticket users should also have linear and non-linear access to all content. This also applies to all Sky subscribers in Austria and Switzerland.

What about Disney channels?

A question that almost inevitably arises with the release of Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature: What about Disney-owned line-up TV channels? Specifically, National Geographic and National Geographic Wild should be mentioned here. After the impending end of the FOX series channel in Germany, should you be afraid that these channels in this country will soon bless the timeline?

If you trust the statements of the director of Disney and Sky Walthelm, everything remains as it is. Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature complement the range of documentary channels and are not intended to replace existing documentary channels. It remains to be seen whether this statement will remain in the stone in the long run. No one should be surprised if one day the content of National Geographic channels can be shown exclusively on Disney +.