Discovery has confirmed it’s completed an upgrade the discovery+ service bringing all of its UK and European users on to the same technology platform used in the USA.
The upgrade, which started late last year, resulted in users being logged out of discovery+ when the switch reached their device platform. A delay in implementing the change on Sky Q meant that over Christmas, discovery+ was not able to sync between Sky Q and other devices.
Discovery moved European users to the new platform into order to offer more personalised content. In turn, it hopes this will reduce ‘churn’, or the number of users ending their subscription.
Meanwhile, a new ad-lite budget option goes live shortly in the UK, also to encourage users to keep their Discovery+ subscription beyond the Olympics.
Discovery+ performance
Overall, Discovery says it now has 22 million direct-to-consumer subscribers around the world, as the media giant cuts out traditional pay TV platform operators.
In a update to investors, Discovery confirmed over half of subscribers who signed up to watch coverage of the Winter Olympics also accessed Discovery’s entertainment programmes.
The company is poised to complete a merger with Warner Media and enter a joint venture with BT to create an greater dominant force in broadcasting and streaming.
David Zaslav, President and Chief Executive Officer of Discovery said:
“2021 was by all measures an exceptional year for our company, in which we achieved significant operational, financial, and strategic objectives. We grew our global DTC paying subscribers to 22 million, a tailwind for our strong distribution revenue growth of 11%, while global advertising revenues grew 10% due to continued strength in our key markets and share gains. Additionally, we ended the year with nearly $4 billion of cash on hand and generated robust cash flows, supporting our ability to invest in growth initiatives. Further, the successful recent broadcast of our second Winter Olympic Games across Europe, on the heels of our first broadcast of the Summer Olympic Games, underscores one of our key differentiators: in-language and locally relevant content. All of which position us well to take advantage of the remarkable opportunities ahead for Warner Bros. Discovery, which we believe will be among the world’s most dynamic media companies.”