Discovery Expands Digital Services in AsiaPac

Discovery is launching the digital service Discovery Plus in India and adding an SVOD tier to Dplay in Japan.

Discovery Plus has set an introductory price of 299 rupees ($4) for a year, delivering content across the science, adventure, food and lifestyle genres, including the brand-new Into the Wild with Bear Grylls. The service is partnering with Google Pay’s On-Air feature for the rollout. Users who watch the premiere episode of Into the Wild with Bear Grylls featuring local superstar Rajinikanth can match the audio for the first four minutes of the show or the promos and get a reward up to 100 percent off the annual subscription fee.

The new Indian service will be available in eight languages, including Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi, delivering content from Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, BBC, TLC, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo, ID, Food Network, HGTV, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel, DIY Network, Motortrend and VICE.  It will offer some 4,000-plus hours at launch. Free users of the app will have access to select Discovery library shows.

Simon Robinson, president for AsiaPac and CFO at Discovery International, commented, “Globally, we are observing healthy trends from direct-to-consumer businesses and Discovery Plus, with its India-focused strategy, is a valued addition. The launch of Discovery Plus is a significant development for our business in India and reflects our commitment to this critical market.”

“The consumer is spoilt for choice in the scripted content space but doesn’t have a dedicated offering in the unscripted space—a place we intend to fill with the launch of Discovery Plus,” said Megha Tata, managing director for South Asia at Discovery, “Our large global library of 300,000 hours of premium content and expertise in owning passionate communities will give us a huge competitive advantage in the digital domain.”

In Japan, Dplay has been available as an AVOD service since September. It is now adding two subscription tiers: Standard, for 750 yen ($7) per month and 7,500 yen ($70) per year, and Premium, for 1,080 yen ($10) monthly and 10,800 yen ($101) annually. The Standard tier will offer 2,500 episodes of popular programs and new series from Discovery Channel and Animal Planet on a catch-up basis. The Premium offer features the Standard lineup plus unlimited access to new content, including more than 80 episodes of BBC nature docs and MotorTrend original content not previously released in Japan.