Discovery+

Discovery+ is an American subscription service for watching shows and movies online. It is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and focuses on factual programming. It uses content from Discovery's channels and also has original shows. It includes content from A&E Networks, NBCUniversal, and CNN.

The service started in India on March 23, 2020, and came to the United States on January 4, 2021. It replaced Discovery's Dplay and Eurosport Player services in Europe. By April 1, 2022, Discovery+ had 24 million subscribers.

After the merger of Warner Bros. Discovery and WarnerMedia in April 2022, Discovery+ became related to HBO Max. HBO Max was later called Max and then changed back to HBO Max in 2025, adding Discovery content to its library. There were plans to stop Discovery+, but the company chose to keep it because it was still making money.

History

Discovery+ started in India on March 23, 2020. It showed shows from Discovery’s brands. Later, it was planned to launch worldwide in early 2021.

In January 2021, Discovery+ began in the U.S. and in eight European countries. It replaced Dplay and the Eurosport Player. There were talks about combining Discovery+ with HBO Max, another streaming service. In 2023, a new service called Max was introduced. It included content from both Discovery+ and HBO Max. Over time, Discovery+ stopped working in some countries. In 2025, it stopped yearly subscriptions in some places. In 2026, Discovery+ was planned to be added to HBO Max in several European countries.

Programming

Original programming

Main article: List of Discovery+ original programming

Discovery+ has special shows from Warner Bros. Discovery's networks.

Content library

Discovery+ gets most of its shows from Warner Bros. Discovery's channels, such as Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, Travel Channel, Magnolia Network, HGTV, Food Network, Investigation Discovery, CNN, and others. In the U.S., it also shows shows from A&E Networks like A&E, History, and Lifetime, as well as from NBCUniversal Global Distribution like American Ninja Warrior, The Biggest Loser, Flipping Out, Queer Eye, The Real Housewives of Melbourne, Cheshire, Johannesburg, Top Chef Canada, and WAGS.

In August 2022, Discovery+ added a section with CNN shows and documentaries. CNN had tried to start its own service, CNN+, but it stopped after just one month.

In October 2022, Discovery+ began showing lifestyle shows from the Metro Channel in Central and Southeast Asia.

Sports

In some parts of Europe, Discovery+ includes sports shows from Warner Bros. Discovery's Eurosport and TNT Sports networks. In October 2023, BT Sport stopped its app, and its shows moved to Discovery+. In February 2024, MotorTrend+ also stopped, and its shows and members joined Discovery+.

Device support and service features

Discovery+ can be used on many devices. You can watch it on computers with Windows or macOS, on streaming players like Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, and Chromecast, and on smart TVs like Android TV. It also works on gaming consoles such as Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, and through apps for Android and iOS phones and tablets.

Launch

In early 2021, Discovery+ planned to start working for customers in Romania, Portugal, Greece, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Iceland around the middle of 2022. But these plans stopped, and a different service called Max started in those places instead, except for Greece and Iceland.

Criticism

When Discovery+ started, some people were upset. They felt that shows they used to watch on cable or satellite TV were now only available if you paid extra for Discovery+. This made it hard for some viewers, especially those who live in rural areas with slow internet, to watch their favorite shows.

Some viewers also felt tricked into signing up for Discovery+ to enjoy full versions of their favorite series, like some shows from 90 Day Fiancé. They also didn’t like seeing constant ads for Discovery+ during regular TV programming.