A cable-era way of watching TV comes to streaming with the debut of Discovery+, an on-demand platform with lots of nature shows and cooking programs.
www.nytimes.com
tl;dr...
Discovery+ is billing itself as
- feel good
- background TV
- not red-carpet
- not scripted
- not shiny
- Judy Dench in a jungle
- pay-for streaming... just like the popular ones that went ahead of us
- we're based on different economics
My take...
In response to #7: O, hai! Quibi!!
In response to #8: We're basing our economical model on the cheapest way to make content.
From the article (pay-walled)....
Discovery is taking a much different approach with its entry into streaming. “Almost all of the players in the business moved toward scripted series and scripted movies,” David Zaslav, the chief executive of Discovery, said in an interview. “They went to the big stars and the red carpet. The big shiny object.” ... “We’re not as shiny,” he continued, “and we don’t have a lot of red carpets.”
Discovery+, which goes live on Monday, is built on homier fare — cooking shows, nature shows, home improvement shows and various other unscripted programs from HGTV, the Food Network, TLC, ID, Animal Planet and the company’s flagship, Discovery.
Mr. Zaslav is wagering that people are now ready to subscribe to a streaming service filled with the kind of thing you can watch with one eye while folding the laundry, paying bills or scrolling through social media. And just how much is he willing to bet that people are willing to pay for a platform that promises a more casual viewing experience?
“We are betting the company that they do,” he said.
...
Discovery+ is a late entrant to a crowded field. The service — which costs $5 a month with commercials or $7 without them — will offer 55,000 hours of programming, series like “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” “Deadliest Catch,” “Naked & Afraid,” “On the Case with Paula Zahn” and “Dr. Pimple Popper.”
It will also have many new shows, including the American debut of “Judi Dench’s Wild Borneo Adventure,” along with spinoffs of reality standbys like “90 Day Fiancé,” “Say Yes to the Dress” and “Fixer Upper.” There will also be nature programming from the BBC, the studio behind “Planet Earth” and “Blue Planet.” ... Discovery+ has Chip and Joanna Gaines, Guy Fieri, Mike Rowe and Bobby Flay.
...
Mr. Wieser, the analyst, said he was skeptical that a strategy that emphasizes comfort viewing will work for a medium that has hooked viewers with one binge-worthy series after another. “People can stay and watch as they randomly flip around channels, and they can enjoy it, too,” he said, “but that’s not necessarily going to get them to buy a new subscription.”
In recent months, though, there have been signs that Mr. Zaslav’s bet could be timely. In October, the hosts of the “The Watch” podcast from The Ringer discussed their love of “passive TV.” In November, The New Yorker noted the “the rise of ambient TV” in an essay that praised shows you can have on in the background. And Netflix has pushed into Discovery’s old territory, with reality series like “Dream Home Makeover,” “Street Food” and “Tidying up with Marie Kondo.”
...
Mr. Zaslav excused the late arrival of Discovery+ by arguing that it made sense for his company to wait for other streaming platforms to do the dirty work of conditioning viewers to pay monthly fees. (The service will get an early boost through a promotional deal — many Verizon customers will get Discovery+ free for 12 months.)
...
“We’re different,” he said. “We have different economics. People watch us differently. But they love us just as much. That’s what we want to prove.”
deadline.com
So, I am now looking for a way to get rid of DirecTV. We have Prime and had it anyway just for the shipping. We can use it now. We have Disney+... we could stream on that sometimes if it was sunny and no wind. Also using a Roku device on our TVs. We don't need sports channels at all.
