Discovery unveils SVOD/AVOD global streamer, with 1,000 hours of originals

A Perfect Planet

Discovery has unveiled its global streaming service Discovery+, which will offer more than 1,000 hours of exclusive programming alongside more than 55,000 existing episodes.

The streamer will cost $4.99 per month as an ad-supported service or $6.99 per month without ads in the US and is set to be rolled out around the world in the coming months, following the launch of its UK service last month.

Content offering & BBCS deal

Discovery+ will enter the increasingly crowded US market on January 4, with more than 2,500 current and library shows from Discovery’s portfolio of networks, including HGTV, Food Network, TLC, ID, OWN, Travel Channel, Discovery Channel and Animal Planet.

The streamer will also offer exclusive streaming access to BBC Studios’ natural history shows following the deal struck last year, with shows such as The Mating Game, Planet Earth and Blue Planet available, plus content from digital-first brand The Dodo. The service will also offer the US exclusive to BBCS blue chip show The Perfect Planet.

A new content partnership will also see Discovery+ offer non-fiction content from A+E Networks-owned networks including A&E, The History Channel and Lifetime, with series such as The First 48, Bring It, Dance Moms and Ice Road Truckers.

Fixer Upper

Originals play

Discovery+ subscribers in the US will also gain access to premieres of shows from the Magnolia Network, the forthcoming multiplatform joint venture with Chip and Joanna Gaines.

Shows on the slate include Fixer Upper: Welcome Home, cooking series Magnolia Table With Joanna Gaines, and documentary Courage To Run, with the preview access exclusive to Discovery+ until the launch of Magnolia Network later in 2021.

The streamer will also be home to 90 Day Journey, as well as an all-new 90 Day Fiancé tentpole series and multiple additional titles from across the franchise including game and talk show style formats totaling more than 200 hours of 90 Day content.

Other originals include lifestyle show Long Island Medium: There in Spirit: Theresa Caputo, food series Bobby And Giada In Italy, baking competition show Cakealikes, renovation format Clipped, as well as a raft of true crime including Queen Of Meth and American Detective With Joe Kenda.

Adventure programming includes travelogue Route 66 (working title), nature and science show Mysterious Planet, and doc such as P.S., Burn This Letter Please.

David Zaslav

Distribution & availability

Discovery will hope that it can boost its chances of success via a distribution deal with Verizon, which will give the US mobile operator’s 55 million customers up to 12 months of access to Discovery+’s ad-free tier at no extra cost, depending on their wireless plan.

Following its early UK roll-out and the January launch in the US, the streamer will then expand to more than 25 markets including the Nordics, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.

Discovery also plans to launch the streamer in Latin American markets, including a planned launch in Brazil, as well as “in parts” of Asia, it added.

European customers will have access to Eurosport content via discovery+, with the service also serving as the streaming home of the Olympics – with NBCUniversal’s Peacock claiming that mantle in the US.

David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery, said his company had been “working methodically” over the past two years to offer what he described as the “perfect complement to every streaming portfolio.”

“With Discovery+, we are seizing the global opportunity to be the world’s definitive product for unscripted storytelling, providing households and mobile consumers a distinct, clear and differentiated offering across valuable and enduring lifestyle, and real life verticals.”

The launch will come at the beginning of a year which will see a wave of new streaming services launch. ViacomCBS will also launch its rebranded version of CBS All Access, Paramount+, in 2021.