Discovery Launches New Streaming Service Hoping To Rival Netflix And Disney+

ByAnne Sewell
Discovery is boldly going where Netflix and Disney+ have gone before them (excuse the pun). The company has recently compared its new, upcoming direct-to-consumer streaming service to that of Netflix and Disney+. The new streaming channel anticipates a huge uptake of subscribers to its history, cooking, true crime, home improvement and other nonfiction genres.

Discovery+ launching in January

The new Discovery+ streaming service launches on January 4 with 5.2 million subscribers under its belt. CEO David Zaslav on Wednesday spoke at a presentation to investors. He said that he anticipates “tens of millions” of subscribers to sign up. Zaslav added that they think the streaming service will get “very big.”

Execs have so far mentioned a “total addressable market” of 470 million. This would include 70 million US subscribers. However, Discovery also has a major footprint overseas. It operates in 200 countries and territories, in a selection of different languages. They believe this would add another 400 million to the new service.

What will you be able to stream?

Discovery+ in the US will launch with more than 55,000 episodes of 2,500 classic and current shows. These will be drawn from its portfolio of networks, including Food Network, Travel Channel, HGTV, Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. The portfolio also includes networks such as TLC, ID and OWN. According to Zaslav, this leads to hitting the market with as much content as Netflix.

Talking Disney+, Zaslav said they can offer the same thing and already have superfans who love food, crime, science and natural history shows. He said their advantage is that they already have channels around the world that fans are already watching.

How much will Discovery+ cost you?

The new streaming service Discovery+ will come at $4.99 per month on an ad-supported tier, or $6.99 per month ad-free. According to CNBC, the $4.99 tier costs the same as NBCUniversal’s Peacock premium tier with ads. Meanwhile, the ad-free $6.00 tier is similar to that charged by Disney+. Both offers are cheaper than WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, which is priced at $14.99 monthly. Meanwhile, in October, Netflix upped its standard plan to $13.99 per month.

Discovery is further partnering with Verizon, which will offer 55 million subscribers up to 12 months ad-free Discovery+ plan for free.

So far, it is unknown exactly where Discovery+ will be available. CNBC notes that a number of their competitors have had trouble negotiating with Roku and Amazon Fire, two of the largest streaming platforms.

Discovery hopes that its programming and many partnerships will set its streaming service apart from its competitors. However, with its many popular genres, including cooking, history, true crime, home improvement and other nonfiction genres, it certainly stands a chance.

Readers, would you sign up for Discovery+? Let us know in the comments section below.

Anne Sewell
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