The current rate of growth is a little over a million a month. Compared to Netflix and Disney+, it remains a small player.
Discovery has published its latest financial results, covering the first three months of the year. As of 31st March 2021, Discovery+ had reached 13 million subscribers globally. The company was hoping to reach 12 million by the end of February.
During the first three months of the year, Discovery signed new deals to make the streaming service available on more devices. In the UK these included Amazon Fire TV and Samsung Smart TVs.
David Zaslav, President and Chief Executive Officer of Discovery said:
“The global rollout of discovery+ is off to a fantastic start by any measure. Key metrics, including subscriber additions, customer engagement, and retention, are exceeding our expectations and demonstrating sustained momentum into the second quarter. We now have 15 million total paying direct-to-consumer subscribers across our global portfolio driven primarily by discovery+, having crossed 13 million total paying direct-to-consumer subscribers at the end of March.”
The company will be looking at boosting subscriber figures as it continues to integrate sports content on Discovery+.
In the UK, Discovery+ offers a hybrid service. Catch-up TV from the company’s free-to-air channels is available without a subscription. This includes programmes shown on Quest, Food Network and DMAX. Exclusive content and catch-up from Discovery’s pay channels is behind the paywall.
Last month, Disney+ smashed the 100 million subscriber barrier. Netflix has over 200 million subscribers. All streaming services are under pressure to main subscriber growth. This might become more difficult as previously house-bound subscribers benefit from looser lockdown rules.