If you bought Discovery content through the PlayStation Store, you’re about to lose access to it for good.
On its website for the PlayStation, Sony announced that Discovery content would be removed from purchasers video libraries on Dec. 31 as a result of “content licensing arrangements,” indicating that the agreement between the two companies has expired. Sony then provided a list of more than a thousand pieces of content, including but not limited to entire seasons of Survivorman, Mythbusters, Deadliest Catch, and other shows.
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Reaction to the loss of that content has been quite negative. These are pieces of media that people paid for that they’ll no longer be able to access, once again raising questions about the preservation of shows and rights in the digital age. This is a news article, not an opinion piece, so to keep it simple: This sucks for anyone who bought any of these shows, especially since neither Sony nor Discovery seems to be offering any compensation for the loss.
Discovery as a company was responsible for such channels as the Discovery Channel and the Science Channel. As you might have guessed from those network names and the list above, Discovery focused a lot on reality- and science-based shows. In general, the shows on the list above are available through other platforms or services.
In 2022, Discovery merged with WarnerMedia to make Warner Bros. Discovery, which is the company behind Max. The media conglomerate has proven controversial due in large part to its treatment of media and creators, having over the last year shelved finished movies such as Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme and entirely removed the ability to access some shows, effectively throwing them into a vault, often for tax write-off purposes.
