In this July 31, 2017, file photo, the Discovery Communications logo sits atop its headquarters in Silver Spring, Md. Discovery is joining the increasingly crowded streaming fray with its own reality-focused service Discovery Plus that will include shows from the Food Network, HGTV, TLC and its other networks. It launches Jan 4. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
Discovery is joining the increasingly crowded streaming fray with its own reality-focused service Discovery Plus that will include shows from the Food Network, HGTV, TLC, and its other networks. It launches January 4.
The service will cost $5 a month with ads and $7 a month without ads. By comparison, the ad-free Disney Plus costs $7 a month and Netflix's most popular plan costs $14 a month.
Each account will include up to five user profiles and support four concurrent streams. Discovery said the service will be available on “major platforms," connected TVs, web, mobile, and tablets, but it didn't specify which services would carry it.
Discovery CEO David Zaslav first announced the streaming service in late 2019 but did not provide details until now.
Discovery has built a reality-TV empire with popular channels that feature reality programming, including the Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, and others. Hit shows have included TLC's “90-Day Fiance," HGTV's “Fixer-Upper" and Guy Fieri's “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" on the Food Network.
The service will offer some originals like “90-Day Fiance” spinoff “90-Day Diaries” and “Long Island Medium” spinoff “Long Island Medium: There in Spirit.”
Verizon customers will get a year free of the service, similar to the deal that Verizon did when Disney Plus launched in late 2019.
Discovery Plus joins a slew of new streaming services started to challenge traditional TV providers and dominant streaming services like Hulu and Netflix over the past year, including Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, HBO Max, and Comcast’s Peacock service. CBS recently rebranded its CBS All Access service as Paramount Plus, relaunching in 2021.
The service will roll out in 25 countries in 2021 including Italy, Spain, UK, and Ireland as well as India.
Apple, the tech giant, is trying to trademark images of apples, the fruit. The company has been pursuing the trademark since 2017, and its latest battleground is Switzerland, where its appealing a partial trademark that would only cover black-and-white depictions of Granny Smith apples.
India's IndiGo airline is buying 500 passenger jets from European planemaker Airbus, the two companies said Monday, in a record-setting order that underscores surging demand for air travel fueled by the country's economic growth.
China’s Alibaba Group has announced a major management reshuffle as the e-commerce giant restructures into six different business divisions to adapt to fast-changing technologies.
Multinational companies including Amazon, Marriott and Hilton pledged Monday to hire more than 13,000 refugees, including Ukrainian women who have fled the war with Russia, over the next three years in Europe.
Many parents are already planning an early outing for back-to-school shopping, despite the early days of summer. Inflation concerns have spurred people to plan ahead in spending. Bryce Gruber, executive editor of Today's Parent, joined Cheddar News to help provide money-saving tips for affordable school shopping.
Twitter is planning to pivot to video content, according to Reuters. Cheddar News explains how the tech giant looks to double down on video, creative and e-commerce strategies.