Just when you thought there were enough premium streaming subscription services, here comes another one: Discovery UK, which is responsible for several nature and lifestyle channels, is launching a new service: Discovery+.
- November 12 Update: Discovery+ is now live. See our first impressions here.
At the moment, Discovery operates dplay, their free (with adverts) video-on-demand service which includes catch-up episodes from Discovery’s Freeview channels.
But starting in November, dplay will be rebranded to Discovery+, with an additional paid tier added to it.
Discovery+ will combine the network’s free and premium programming into one service, with content from Discovery UK’s portfolio of 13 iconic channels. The paid channels include:
- Discovery Channel
- TLC
- Animal Planet
- ID
- Discovery Science
- Discovery Turbo
- Discovery History
And the free channels, which are also available on Freeview, are:
- Quest
- Really
- Quest Red
- HGTV
- Food Network
- DMAX
Catch-up programmes from the free channels will continue to be free under Discovery+ (with adverts), but the premium content, which will be part of a new “Entertainment Pass”, will require a subscription.
The “Entertainment Pass” will include live TV and 30-day catch-up from Discovery’s premium brands: over 30 discovery+ Originals like Prince Andrew, Maxwell & Epstein, Faking It: Jimmy Savile and Salvage Hunters: Design Classics, with new launches every month.
In addition, it will include early releases of hit network titles including World’s Greatest Cars and Ghost Adventures, and extensive box sets of iconic franchises such as Gold Rush and 90 Day Fiancé with same day release as the US.
The Discovery+ Entertainment Pass will cost £4.99/month, or £29.99 for 12 months, which is a limited-time launch deal – the regular annual price will later convert to £49.99/year.
Sky Q customers will be able to access discovery+ for 12 months at no extra cost, and when the year is up, will be able to add it to their regular Sky bill.
Discovery+ will be available on the web and as a mobile app, though it’s unclear yet which other streaming devices will be supported.
Discovery say that the new service is expected to be rolled out on additional devices and platforms in 2020 and 2021.
Once the new service launches, current users of the dplay app will be asked to delete their existing app, and move to the new Discovery+ app.
