Discovery on Monday launched its new Discovery + streaming service in the United States in hopes of cutting its own unscripted corner of the already full streaming space.
Discovery +, which was previously launched in several other countries, is called “the real non-fiction subscription streaming service.” Its library includes more than 55,000 episodes of more than 2,500 television brand programs such as 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 level of $ 4.99 with supported ads (at the same level as NBCUniversal’s top level of ads with Peacock with ads) and a monthly level of $ 6.99 without advertising (which costs the same as Disney +). It also works with Verizon to offer 55 million customers up to 12 months of Discovery + for free, according to its plan. Other competitors include AT & T’s HBO Max, which costs $ 14.99 a month, and Netflix, which has a standard plan that costs $ 13.99
The service can be streamed via Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku and Samsung devices, along with mobile, web and game consoles.
“Our No. 1 goal was to be available on every platform in the United States,” Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav said Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk Alley”.
He added that he believes the service is different from its existing peers.
“We think we’re going to let the rest of this group fight series and scripted movies, but we have a big lane in the U.S. and around the world, and that lane is that we have great content that people love: the day of the 90’s Fiance ‘Chip and Joanna Gaines, Oprah Winfrey,” he said. “And we’re completely differentiated.”
He said this makes the service a complement to the popular existing 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’re doing really well.”
Zaslav would not share projections on how much he expects the company to grow subscribers next year.
“We think … that we can be very, very big,” he said. “That’s our bet. We put a lot of resources behind it and, over the next few quarters, we’ll report on our numbers and then project how big it really is.”