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.
Google announced it will be updating its privacy restrictions that will limit tracking throughout apps on android devices. The update is similar to Apple's previous update, which ended up causing companies like Meta to lose billions of dollars on the market. Cheddar News was joined by David Trainer, CEO of New Constructs, to discuss the implications of the new privacy updates.
Global semiconductor sales topped $500 billion dollars for the first time in history in 2021. Demand for microchips has been at an all-time high amid a global shortage, but questions still remain about the future of semiconductor production. Cheddar News was joined by Tristan Gerra, Senior Research Analyst at Baird, to answer some of these questions and more.
Stephen Gardner, director at ETF Managers Group, explains why investors shouldn't be rushing to sell vaccine stocks like Moderna or BioNTech even as the spread of COVID-19 slows down.
Keith Smith, President of Direct Digital Holdings, and Mark Walker, CEO of Direct Digital Holdings, discuss the challenges businesses have reaching diverse audiences and the future of programmatic ads.
Compass Inc. reported its Q4 earnings on Wednesday, noting a 31 percent surge in quarterly revenue year over year. The real estate brokerage platform allows agents to promote and market their properties online and saw a 90 percent agent retention rate as well. Compass CEO Robert Reffkin joined Cheddar News to discuss the company's earnings, what ongoing inflation means for the housing market and how they help agents directly. "Let me start by saying my mom is actually a real estate agent, has been the majority of my life. She's a real estate agent today at Compass, and so I built Compass with her in mind," Reffkin said. The goal for an agent is to grow their business and have a better quality of life, more income to support their family, more time to be with their family, and it's not just software. It's a platform of software and services."
While many are excited to watch the final two NFL teams square-off and see which one ultimately takes home the trophy, some, on the other hand, are there for another mian attraction -- the commercials. Companies during this year's game are looking towards the future From electric vehicles, to robots, and crypto-currency, several first-time advertisers are expected to join long-time advertisers like Pepsi, Budweiser and Doritos during the NFL's biggest game. Tom Morton, Global Chief Strategy Officer at R/GA, joined Cheddar News' Big Game Special to discuss.
Americans are expected to spend nearly $24 billion in 2022 for Valentine's Day, and many of those gifts will be in the form of chocolate. John Galloway, interim president of the Americas and CMO of Godiva, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss what chocolate trends the brand is seeing this year, plus the impact of inflation and supply chain issues on the industry.
