Content:  

The Internet TV site for the Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet has the worst content library of any of the sites we reviewed. It has a dismal selection that isn’t worth getting excited over even if you’re a rabid fan of the network (we should know since a few of us are).

Here’s how it works: at any given time there are three shows available, one from each of the channels mentioned above, and when you click on any of them you are offered 2-3 episodes from that show. That’s it. No really, that’s it. At any given time you have a maximum of 9 episodes from 3 shows available to you. Discovery then makes it worse; those episodes aren’t a permanent fixture on the sight. Every couple months they are traded out for a different show or different episodes. We think that’s just not how an Internet TV site should work, especially when we have other sites in this review with thousands of full episodes from hundreds of shows. The least Discovery could do is offer us 3 episodes from EVERY show. 

Ease of Use:  

The Discovery Channel site is pretty cluttered and has so much text that it’s a bit daunting. However, it’s easy to find the page with full episodes. Then you are prompted to download the special Discovery Channel video player. Why do they do this? So many other sites simply play the video in your browser; we don’t want to download and install software if all we have to look forward to is 9 lousy episodes.

On the positive side, the video player is very simple and easy to use. And when we say simple, we mean it. There are no features beyond the progress bar, time stamp, volume and fullscreen controls. Nothing else. It can’t get easier than that.

Advertising:  

One benefit of the proprietary Discovery player is that the annoying image ads are kept to a minimum. We found that the video commercials were more frequent than on other sites though. This was a little aggravating, but the commercial still aren’t too obtrusive. 

Features:  

The Discovery Channel really doesn’t offer many features. The player naturally pops out to a new window (you can’t have it any other way) and it does give you details about the episode. Want more than that? Too bad. 

Help/Support:  

Discovery Channel has the standard methods of support, namely a FAQ and email support. 

Discovery Channel is basically and example of how NOT to create an Internet TV site. There is a dismal selection of content, almost no features and an unnecessary video player. Even if the Discovery Channel is your favorite network, this site isn’t even worth visiting. For more entertaining options, try TopTenREVIEWS' top three selections: Hulu, Fancast, and Modern Feed.