Discovery+
Discovery+ (pronounced "Discovery Plus"; stylized as discovery+) is a streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The service focuses on factual programming drawn from the libraries of Discovery's main channel brands, as well as original series (including spin-offs of programs from Discovery's networks), and other acquired content.
 | |
Screenshot  Discovery+ homepage on January 4, 2021 | |
Type of site | OTT video streaming platform |
|---|---|
| Predecessor(s) | Dplay (in Europe) |
| Area served | United States, Canada, Brazil, and parts of Asia-Pacific and Europe (see full list of countries) |
| Key people | David Zaslav (President and CEO, Warner Bros. Discovery) |
| Parent | Warner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming and Interactive Entertainment (Warner Bros. Discovery) |
| URL | www |
| Registration | Required/Free (content varies in most countries) |
| Users |  24 million (as of March 31, 2022) |
| Current status | Active, service currently merging with HBO Max |
It was first launched in India on March 23, 2020. It launched in the United States on January 4, 2021, and replaced Discovery's Dplay and Eurosport Player services in Europe the next day. As of March 31, 2022, Discovery+ has 24 million subscribers.[1]
The service became a sister to WarnerMedia's HBO Max in April 2022 following the merger of Discovery with WarnerMedia. In March 2022, it was stated that there were long-term plans for Discovery+ to be bundled with, and eventually merge with HBO Max.
History
Discovery first launched Discovery+ in India on March 23, 2020, and included content from Discovery's various brands.[2] In September of the same year, Discovery announced plans to launch an international version of Discovery+ in early 2021.[3]
In October 2020, it was announced that Dplay would be renamed Discovery+ in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the following month.[4][5]
On January 4, 2021, Discovery+ launched in the U.S. with both a paid ad-supported plan and an ad-free plan.[6][7] On January 5, 2021, Discovery+ launched in eight European territories, subsuming Dplay and the Eurosport Player services.[8][9][10][11][12] As of April 8, 2022, it is a sister service to HBO Max.
In October 2021, Discovery announced that Discovery+ would launch in Canada on October 19. Corus Entertainment (which is the Canadian licensee for most of Discovery's lifestyle brands) is a marketing partner for the service, and has promoted Discovery+ via its television networks, digital platforms, and radio. Discovery stated that over a thousand episodes of programming would be available with French-language subtitles at launch.[13][14]
In an earnings call on November 3, 2021, president and CEO of Discovery Streaming and International JB Perrette discussed potential options for the service following the then-proposed spin-off and merger of WarnerMedia into Discovery to form Warner Bros. Discovery. These involved a bundling and/or eventual merger of Discovery+ with WarnerMedia's streaming service HBO Max, and offering such a merged service in markets where Discovery+ has yet to launch, such as another parts of Asia-Pacific.[15] On March 14, 2022, after Discovery shareholders approved the merger, CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels stated that the merged company planned to pursue a merger of HBO Max with Discovery+ as a long-term goal, following the process proposed by Perrette earlier.[16]
Programming
Original programming
Original programming carried by Discovery+ includes spin-offs of programs from Discovery's networks.
Content library
The library of Discovery+ is drawn primarily from the original programming of Warner Bros. Discovery's factual channel brands, including but not limited to Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, Travel Channel, Magnolia Network, HGTV, Food Network, Investigation Discovery, and other international brands where applicable such as Asian Food Network.
In the U.S., Discovery+ has also licensed non-scripted programming from A&E Networks—including A&E, History, and Lifetime programs[17]—and NBCUniversal Global Distribution—including American Ninja Warrior, The Biggest Loser, Flipping Out, Queer Eye, The Real Housewives of Melbourne, Cheshire, and Johannesburg, Top Chef Canada (which is produced by the Canadian version of Food Network), and WAGS.[18]
Sports
In selected European territories, Discovery+ offers sports content via Warner Bros. Discovery's Eurosport networks, subsuming Eurosport's previous streaming platform Eurosport Player.[19][20]
Device support and service features
Discovery+ is available through traditional Windows/macOS web browsers, the major digital media player platforms (such as Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV and Chromecast), Android TV, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S gaming consoles, and through Android and iOS apps.[21]
Launch
It is planned that Discovery+ will be available on Sky Glass, Sky Q and Sky X in Austria and Germany and to Vodafone customers in Romania, Portugal, Greece, Czech Republic, Hungary and Iceland by mid-2022.[22][23]
In August, Brazilian website vcfaz.tv has said that Discovery+ will launch in Brazil in 1 September, but Discovery has denied this.[24] It was then confirmed by Discovery that Discovery+'s launch date in Brazil would be 9 November 2021.[25][26]
| Release date | Country/Territory | Release partner(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 23 March 2020 | India | None |
| 10 October 2020 | United Kingdom | |
| Ireland | ||
| December 2020 | Armenia | Megogo[27] |
| Azerbaijan | ||
| Belarus | ||
| Estonia | ||
| Georgia | ||
| Kazakhstan | ||
| Kyrgyzstan | ||
| Lithuania | ||
| Moldova | ||
| Tajikistan | ||
| Turkmenistan | ||
| Ukraine | ||
| Uzbekistan | ||
| 4 January 2021 | United States | Verizon |
| 5 January 2021 | Denmark | None |
| Finland | ||
| Netherlands | ||
| Italy | ||
| Norway | ||
| Spain | ||
| Sweden | ||
| Poland | player.pl[28] | |
| 5 May 2021[29] | Turkey | BluTV |
| 20 May 2021 | Estonia | Go3[30] |
| Latvia | ||
| Lithuania | ||
| 18 June 2021 | Latvia | Megogo[31] |
| 13 October 2021[32] | Philippines | Globe[33] |
| 19 October 2021[34] | Canada | Corus Entertainment |
| 9 November 2021[25][26] | Brazil | Globoplay Claro |
| May 2023 | Latin America | None |
| Mid 2022 | Austria | Sky |
| Germany | ||
| Czech Republic | Vodafone | |
| Greece | ||
| Hungary | ||
| Iceland | ||
| Portugal | ||
| Romania | ||
| TBA[35][36][37] | Bahrain | Starzplay |
| Kuwait | ||
| Saudi Arabia | ||
| North Africa | ||
| Malaysia | Astro | |
| Asia-Pacific | None | |
| Australia | Foxtel | |
| New Zealand | None | |
| Russia | None |
Criticism
There was criticism of the service at launch by some viewers of the networks and industry analysts, especially concerns that existing Discovery programming is being taken away from cable and satellite viewers and is being placed behind an additional paywall that may be inaccessible to viewers without robust broadband plans, or are in rural areas with little access to broadband, which in turn may imperil future carriage of those channels by Discovery's provider partners.[38][39] Other viewers have criticized Discovery's bait-and-switch tactics in forcing them to sign up for Discovery+ to have the 'full experience' of a series, as is being done for various Discovery+ spin-offs of 90 Day Fiancé, along with obtrusive Discovery+ advertising throughout the broadcast day (including a lower third sized banner in the top-right corner during actual programming) of many Discovery networks.[40][41] A lesser concern has been the audio quality of shows on the service, which are streamed in basic stereo rather than surround sound offered on their original cable broadcasts.
See also
References
- "Discovery+ Reached 24 Million Subscribers Before Merger with Warner Bros". Cord Cutters News. 2022-04-26. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
- "Discovery Plus App Debuts With Content 'Curated Specifically for India'". NDTV Gadgets 360. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
- "'This is for cord cutters': Discovery aims to launch Discovery+ streaming service in early 2021". Digiday. 2020-09-21. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
- "discovery+". www.discoveryplus.dk. Archived from the original on 2021-01-01. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
- Kanter, Jake (2020-10-20). "Discovery UK Rebrands Streamer Dplay As Discovery+ & Adds Subscription Tier". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- Alexander, Julia (2020-12-02). "Discovery, home of Shark Week, HGTV, and Food Network, enters the streaming wars with Discovery Plus". The Verge. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
- Hayes, Dade (2020-12-02). "Discovery Reveals Streaming Rollout Plan For Discovery+, With Verizon Deal In Place For January U.S. Launch". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
- Linares, Iván (2021-01-05). "La app de Dplay cambia a Discovery+ y pasa de ser gratuita a ofrecer contenido 'premium'". Xataka Móvil (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-01-15.
- "Dplay va in pensione: Discovery+ disponibile in Italia". DDay.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-01-15.
- "Dit moet je weten over streamingdienst Discovery Plus". Android Planet (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-01-15.
- Breinstrup, Thomas (2021-01-05). "Streamingtjenesten Dplay skifter navn". Berlingske.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2021-01-15.
- "Discovery+ als online streamingdienst in Nederland begonnen". TotaalTV.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- Spangler, Todd (12 October 2021). "Discovery Plus Set to Launch in Canada". Variety. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- Szalai, Georg (October 12, 2021). "Discovery+ to Launch in Canada Next Week". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2021-10-12. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
- Bunson, Ben (November 3, 2021). "Discovery+, HBO Max may bundle before combining after merger". FierceVideo. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
- Maas, Jennifer (2022-03-14). "HBO Max and Discovery Plus Will Be Combined Into One Platform". Variety. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- Steinberg, Brian (2020-12-09). "Rivals Discovery and A+E Networks Forge Streaming Alliance". Variety. Archived from the original on 2020-12-09. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
- "discovery+ Strikes Licensing Deal with NBCUniversal Global Distribution, Expanding Platform's Expansive Nonfiction Content Library" (Press release). Discovery, Inc. January 13, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022 – via The Futon Critic.
- "'Discovery+ will change Eurosport's rights acquisition strategy', says Andrew Georgiou". SportsPro. 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2021-10-14.
- "Discovery and YouTube in Olympics content partnership; Seven-Twitter alliance". Sportcal. Archived from the original on 2021-07-28. Retrieved 2021-10-14.
- Otterson, Joe (January 4, 2021). "Discovery Plus Launches on Multiple Platforms, Including Roku and Amazon Fire TV".
- Krieger, Jörn (2022-01-25). "Discovery+ to launch in summer via Sky Deutschland". Broadband TV News. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
- Ramachandran, Naman (2021-01-04). "Discovery Plus Set to Debut in 12 European Markets With Vodafone Deal". Variety. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
- "Discovery+ dará 30% de desconto em pré-venda. Saiba a data de estreia do serviço". vcfaz.tv (in Portuguese). 14 August 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
O grupo Discovery entrou em contato com a redação VCFAZ.TV para informar que, ao contrário do publicado no site oficial, não está confirmada a pré-venda para o período de 17 a 31 de agosto e a estreia no dia 1º de setembro. Novas informações devem ser publicada em breve.
- "Discovery+ chega oficialmente ao mercado brasileiro" [Discovery + officially arrives in the Brazilian market]. vcfaz.tv (in Portuguese). 4 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- Easton, Jonathan (5 November 2021). "discovery+ to launch in Brazil on November 9". Digital TV Europe.
- "Discovery teams up with Megogo". 11 November 2020.
- "Discovery+ launches in Poland". 8 December 2020.
- "Stratejik ortağımız discovery+'ın içerikleriyle platformumuz büyümeye devam ediyor! discovery+ 5 Mayıs'ta BluTV'de! (Our platform continues to grow with the contents of our strategic partner discovery+! discovery+ is on BluTV on May 5th!)". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
- "discovery+ launches in the Baltics". 20 May 2021.
- "discovery+ launches in latvia". 18 June 2021.
- Reyes, Shiela (13 October 2021). "Streaming service discovery+ is now in PH". ABS-CBN News.
- Frater, Patrick (1 September 2021). "Discovery Plus Launching in The Philippines". Variety.
- Szalai, Georg (12 October 2021). "Discovery+ to Launch in Canada Next Week". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
- "Discovery Forges Strategic Partnership with Saudi OTT Service Jawwy TV". 24 February 2021.
- "Discovery Eyes Market of 70 Million U.S. Subscribers for Discovery Plus Streaming Service". 2 December 2020.
- "Discovery Plus Launches in the Middle East and North Africa via Starzplay". 6 January 2021.
- Swann, Phillip (3 February 2021). "Discovery+ Stealing Shows: Unfair to Rural Residents?". TV Answer Man. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
- O'Brien, Jennifer (5 January 2021). "90 Day Fiance: TLC Viewers Are Over Hearing About Discovery Plus". ScreenRant. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
- O'Brien, Jennifer (5 January 2021). "90 Day Fiance: TLC Viewers Are Over Hearing About Discovery Plus". ScreenRant. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
- Andy Dehnart (11 March 2021). "Restaurant Impossible back on Food Network after its move to Discovery+ is reversed". Reality Blurred. Retrieved 12 March 2021.