Discovery launched its new streaming service Discovery + in the United States on Monday, hoping to create its own makeshift corner of the already crowded streaming space.
Discovery +, which has already been launched in several other countries, calls itself “the definitive real-life, non-fiction subscription streaming service”. Its library includes more than 55,000 episodes of more than 2,500 branded TV shows, including HGTV, Food Network, Animal Planet, TLC, ID and more. It will also offer original and exclusive series, such as the BBC’s “Planet Earth”.
The service has a $ 4.99 monthly level supported by ads (at the same level as the NBCUniversal Peacock premium level with ads) and a $ 6.99 monthly level without ads (which costs the same as Disney +). It is also working with Verizon to give 55 million customers up to 12 months of Discovery + free, depending on their plans. 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 in the U.S.
The service can be broadcast using Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku and Samsung devices, along with mobile consoles, the web and games.
“Our # 1 goal was to be available on all platforms in America,” said Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav on Monday at CNBC’s “Squawk Alley”.
He added that he believes the service is differentiated from its existing peers.
“We believe that we will let the rest of this group fight series and movies with scripts, but we have a great track in the U.S. and around the world, and that track is that we have great content that people love: ’90 Day Fiance ‘Chip and Joanna Gaines, Oprah Winfrey, “he said. “And we are completely differentiated.”
He said this makes the service a complement to existing popular services.
“We are a great company for Disney and Netflix,” he said. “If you have Disney or Netflix, you have two great products, but we are completely different and we are doing very well with them.”
Zaslav did not share projections of how much the company expects subscribers to grow next year.
“We think … we can be very, very big,” he said. “This is our bet, we are putting a lot of resources behind it, and in the next two quarters we will be reporting our numbers and then we will be projecting how big it really is.”