It should be part of your streaming life

Illustration for the article titled Discovery + Must be part of your streaming life, it's so good

Photo: Catie Keck / Gizmodo

Discovery’s new streaming service has finally arrived.

The company’s official entry into the streaming wars has brought all of Discovery’s assets under one roof, with everything from real crime to reality TV to nature documentaries. Discovery + is home to tens of thousands of episodes of old broadcast channels such as HGTV, the History Channel, A&E, Food Network, and more. And it’s not just old stuff either – Discovery plans to bring more than 1,000 hours of original content to the platform in the first year, with more than 50 exclusives available at the launch of the service. This is a fair amount of content to offer potential subscribers directly outside the gate.

But the costs for both ad-free and ad-supported levels, which cost $ 5 and $ 7 per month respectively. Do you really should you add another paid streaming service to your portfolio, especially when so many others were introduced last year? Maybe not. But I want to encourage someone to give Discovery + a try before writing it off. Not only was the original and exclusive natural world a big attraction for me, personally – as well as all the other David Attenborough out there – but Discovery + delivered an excellent product during the launch that will introduce at least something new to you limited premium content options.

Now, I’m not sure how your own diet was in quarantine content, but I mostly survived on reckless TV watching (I know, I know) and many documentaries on the natural and world phenomena. I will watch it wherever I can find it: Netflix, Apple TV, PBS, whatever. If this sounds like you, reader, I’ve got some good news: Discovery + is a table of exactly these kinds of things, thanks to Discovery’s own assets and exclusive BBC programming, which includes Planet Earth, Blue Planet, Serengeti, en The mating game. Attenborough also tells the Discovery + original A perfect planet, a series of five parts by the same people behind Planet Earth. That alone should be reason enough to activate at least one of the plurals free trial offers the service is currently underway.

But that’s not all. I was honestly amazed at the variety featured on launch day and how easy it was to see things by genre or channel. Homepage rows make it easy to find new originals, content, popular series and your personalized watchlist. I wish the service was made a little easier to find 4K content. Right now, 4K is limited to a handful of natural world series like Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II on platforms that support it. But we can expect more 4K content to eventually hit the service – possibly even this year.

In terms of support, Discovery + has a refreshingly smooth implementation on most major platforms, including Xbox, Fire TV, Roku, Apple, Android, Samsung smart TVs and Chromecast, including its latest version with Google TV. I am currently testing a Vizio OLED TV, and although I could not open the app on the TV myself, I was able to throw Discovery + to the TV from my iPhone 11. I asked Discovery if it planned to support other smart TVs using their own software, including LG en Vizio, aand although the company could not immediately share anything, it sounds like Discovery is working on extensive support.

Illustration for the article titled Discovery + Must be part of your streaming life, it's so good

Photo: Catie Keck / Gizmodo

Each of Discovery’s dozens of brands has their own bubble in a slider bar on the home page, as well as content categories such as lifestyle, adventure and exploration, paranormal and inexplicable, documentaries, as well as science and technology, among others. It was immediately clear to me that rather than crushing a bunch of seemingly unrelated brands together and hoping it works (Cough HBO max Cough), Discovery thought a lot about organization and design. It just works.

Now you may be wondering how Discovery, with tens of thousands of episodes available at launch, sorts all of its different brands and titles to offer you something to look forward to. The company uses its own algorithm that takes into account a number of factors regarding your watch habits, and although it is considering page visits, the company does not want to specifically comment on how the system works. But when it comes to user-specific content recommendations, it helps that Discovery + make user profiles available immediately. Five profiles are supported per account and the service allows for up to four simultaneous streams. This means that one subscription can cover just about everyone in an average household.

And as for the original of it? You’ll probably know before you sign up if you’re a super fan of Chip and Joanna Gaines – and there must be many, because Discovery is leaning into this marriage venture very hard – or the kind of tin foil hat-wearing dork that will tune in for a new Project Blue Book series (it me). But I was pleasantly surprised at the number of titles I would definitely add to the watchlist I so desperately need to leave me with what’s left of the winter. (I hesitate to admit that these titles contain a paranormal joint called Amityville Horror House, but listen, we’re all doing our best now.)

Discovery + is not going to replace your Netflix subscription, and Discovery’s own leadership has said so much. But Discovery + is David Zaslav, CEO describe it has recently been a “perfect complement” to your primary portfolio of cutting solutions. And who knows! It might just surprise you. As far as the introduction of streams goes, it is extraordinarily special.

READ

  • This newly launched streaming service brings together all of Discovery’s assets under one roof, including HGTV, the History Channel, A&E, Food Network, the Discovery Channel, and more.
  • Discovery + is the exclusive home for BBC nature programming, including a brand new series by David Attenborough.
  • Each profile supports up to five user profiles and four concurrent streams.
  • Both subscribers are paid, with one offering ad-supported content for $ 5 per month and one without ads for $ 7 per month.

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