Discovery Networks International announced that Discovery HD, the company's international high-definition television brand, would launch in Japan and Canada by the end of 2005.
Discovery HD, the company's first 24-hour high-definition network in Asia, will launch on the J:COM digital platform Dec. 14 in Japan, reaching an initial subscriber base of 500,000 homes. In Canada, the CRTC recently approved a joint venture application between CTV Specialty Television and Discovery Communications for Discovery HD. The network is expected to launch as a 24-hour Category 2 Digital Specialty Service by the end of the year.
Discovery Networks first launched Discovery HD internationally as a branded programming block in South Korea in February 2005, and also recently announced the launch of Discovery HD in Germany and Austria in November 2005, bringing the initial number of international markets Discovery HD will be distributed in to five.
