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.
Despite challenges like inflation, labor and product shortages, and the Omicron variant, holiday sales saw record levels of growth this year, according to a new report from Mastercard SpendingPulse. The group reports on national retail sales across all payment types, finding that holiday sales rose at the fastest pace in 17 years this year. Mastercard senior advisor and former chariman and CEO of Saks Incorporated Steve Sadove joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Keith Fitz-Gerald, chief investment officer at Fitz-Gerald Group, spoke to Cheddar about the growing competition for Tesla's electric cars in China as tech giant Huawei enters the race. "There's a lot of legacy worry, but that does not discount the possibility that Elon might have a contender on his hands," he said about the sometimes troubled telecom company. Fitz-Gerald also gave a nod to two other local rivals, Nio and XPeng, noting the latter as having something of an edge with its CEO He Xiopeng being lauded by Chinese state media.
Ariel Kaye, founder and CEO of home goods business Parachute, joined Cheddar to discuss the company's sales success over the holidays as it navigated supply chain issues. She also expects a strong showing in 2022 with the continuation of 2021 trends. "The hybrid work model is going to be here for a long time," Kaye said. The business, which currently has 12 physical locations, plans to expand to 30 brick-and-mortar shops by the end of 2022.
Nikola announced that it delivered its first electric semi trucks last week, sending the embattled EV company's stock soaring. There is a lot of competition in this space, though, said Lauren Fix, an automotive analyst with Car Coach Reports. While every country has companies racing to dominate the electric trucking industry, she explained, a shortage of graphite, used in batteries, and a dearth of convenient charging stations will still keep growth slow in 2022. "You really have to be very careful when you're investing in this marketplace," Fix said. "That's great that [Nikola was] able to deliver one, but can they deliver more?"
It looks like the supply chain didn't steal Christmas this year after all. Retail sales jumped 8.5 percent between November 1 and December 24, compared with the same period last year, according to a report from Mastercard. That's the strongest growth in 17 years. Jharonne Martis, director of consumer research at Refinitiv, joined Cheddar to discuss how retailers were able to do so well despite inflation, supply chain issues, and the COVID-19 omicron variant but gave a subdued outlook for the retail sector at the beginning of 2022. "Consumers are not just completely isolated from the inflation issues," she said. "This is definitely going to continue into the first half of the year, as per our IFR data."
Hotel cancellations are on the rise ahead of the holidays as the omicron variant spreads around the world. Online hotel search site Trivago noted a 35 percent jump in cancellations since November. Axel Hefer, managing director and CEO at Trivago, joined Cheddar to discuss this worrying trend. Hefner said it is important for both travelers and businesses to watch how the 2021-2022 winter travel season unfolds as it will help them prepare for next year as the pandemic will likely be ongoing.
Markets opened slightly higher to kick off the final trading week of the year as investors continue to watch the Omicron variant in the U.S. Sean O'Hara, President, Pacer ETFs joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss what drove early market activity.
