Discovery Plus Prepares for January Launch in the U.S.
Discovery will introduce its streaming service, Discovery Plus, in the U.S. on January 4, 2021. How much does Discovery Plus cost? Is the service worth it?.
Dec. 3 2020, Published 1:40 p.m. ET
Discovery will introduce its streaming service, Discovery Plus, in the U.S. on January 4, 2021. The service will launch at a monthly price of $4.99 with commercials and $6.99 without commercials. Is it worth buying the Discovery Plus subscription?
Discovery has partnered with Verizon to give certain customers up to 12 months of Discovery Plus for free. Discovery owns networks including the home improvement channel HGTV, the Food Network, and the Discovery Channel, which is famous for its annual Shark Week. Discovery hopes that its partnerships and programming will set its newly unveiled direct-to-consumer streaming service apart from its competitors.
Where will Discovery Plus be available?
Discovery is entering the video streaming space with Discovery Plus. The company will launch the streaming service in the U.S. on January 4, 2021. Discovery Plus launched in the UK and Ireland in November. The company plans to launch the streaming service in about 25 countries around the world in 2021. Discovery plans to launch the service in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the Nordics (typically Iceland, Finland, Norway, and Sweden), parts of Asia, and Latin American countries like Brazil.
Discovery said that the content will be available on major platforms including web, mobile, connected TVs, and tablets. Currently, Amazon and Roku are in negotiations to carry Discovery Plus, but the agreements haven't been reached yet. Discovery has also partnered with Verizon, which will provide 55 million customers with as many as 12 months of the ad-free Discovery Plus plan for free based on their wireless plan with the carrier.
How much does Discovery Plus cost?
Discovery Plus will launch with a monthly price of $4.99 with commercials and $6.99 without commercials. The higher $6.99 tier costs the same as Disney Plus. The ad-supported $4.99 tier is on par with NBC Universal-owned Peacock’s premium tier with ads.
Discovery Plus versus Netflix
Discovery Plus is cheaper than Netflix, which raised its standard plan to $13.99 per month in October. Netflix’s entry-level basic plan starts at $8.99 per month. In the U.S., Discovery Plus will have about 55,000 episodes from Discovery’s own channels, as well as from A&E Networks, BBC's Natural History collection, Group Nine, and others.
Discovery CEO David Zaslav said that Discovery Plus would hit the market with as much content as Netflix. He also said that Discovery Plus will stand out for its unscripted offerings.
Discovery Plus versus Disney Plus
Disney Plus costs $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year, which is on par with the ad-free $6.99 tier of Discovery Plus. In just one year, Disney Plus has added about 73.7 million customers, which is far more than the company’s anticipation for 60 million – 90 million customers by 2024. Discovery said that it has about 5 million global paying customers across its existing streaming services. The company thinks that the addressable market in the U.S. is 70 million homes and will continue to grow.
Disney Plus is worth getting if you want to watch Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel, and Disney movies, while Discovery Plus is worth getting if you are interested in science and history.