Discovery launched its new Discovery + streaming service in the US on Monday, hoping to cut its own unscripted corner of the already crowded streaming space.
Discovery +, which was previously released in several other countries, is called “the ultimate non-fiction subscription streaming service, in reality.” Its library includes more than 55,000 episodes of more than 2,500 TV shows, including HGTV, Food Network, Animal Planet, TLC, ID and more. It will also offer original series and exclusives, such as the BBC’s “Planet Earth”.
The service has a monthly ad level of $ 4.99 (equal to NBCUniversal’s premium Peacock with ads) and a monthly ad-free $ 6.99 (which costs the same as Disney +). It also works with Verizon to offer 55 million customers up to 12 months of Discovery + for free, depending on their plan. Other competitors include HBO Max from AT&T, which costs $ 14.99 per month, and Netflix, which has a standard plan that costs $ 13.99 in the US
The service can be streamed using Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku and Samsung, along with mobile devices, web and game consoles.
“Our No. 1 goal was to be available on every platform in America,” Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav said on CNBC’s “Squawk Alley.”
He added that he believes the service is differentiated from his existing colleagues.
“We think we’ll let the rest of the band fight series and screenplays, but we have a great band in the US and around the world, and this band is that we have great content that people love: ’90 Fiance’ Chip Day and Joanna Gaines, Oprah Winfrey, “he said.” And we’re completely different.
He said that he makes this service a complement to the existing popular services.
“We’re a great partner for Disney and Netflix,” he said. “If you have Disney or Netflix, you have two great products, but we’re completely different and we get along very well with them.”
Zaslav would not share projections of how much the company expects to grow subscribers next year.
“We think … we can be very, very big,” he said. “This is our bet, we put a lot of resources behind it and in the next few quarters we will report our numbers and then project how big it really is.”