Discovery has confirmed plans to close Home & Health and Discovery Shed in the UK on January 6.

The news comes after the launch of new premium on-demand service, Discovery+, last month and marks the first indication that the broadcaster is considering the long-term future of its portfolio of linear TV channels.

Earlier this year Discovery also discontinued the Travel Channel, which had been operating in the UK since 1994.

Discovery Shed launched in 2009 and is aimed at male outdoorsy types with programming including fishing, DIY, cars and construction.

Home & Health, meanwhile, has been part of the Discovery portfolio since 2000 and in recent years has veered towards reality programming such as Toddlers & Tiaras and My Five Wives - shows which have an established home on sister channel TLC.

According to the latest ratings figures from BARB, Discovery Shed has an audience share of just 0.01% across the UK, while Home & Health has a share of 0.02%.

Following the closures, Discovery's portfolio of linear channels aligned to the Discovery brand will comprise the main Discovery channel, Animal Planet, TLC, DMAX, Investigation Discovery, Discovery Science, Discovery History and Discovery Turbo.

Other channels in the wider network include Quest, Quest Red, Food Network, Really, HGTV and the Eurosport channels.