Discovery Ended 2021 with 22 Million Direct-to-Consumer Subscribers, Up 2 Million in Q4 2021
Discovery announced that they ended Q4 2021 with 22 million direct-to-consumer subscribers, up 2 million subscribers from Q2. That includes subscribers on discovery+, along with their previously launched international platforms including dPlay, which was rebranded to discovery+ late last year.
After discovery+ launched in January 2021, Discovery reported 12 million subscribers in February, 13 million in March, and 15 million in April. By the end of Q2, the streaming service surpassed 17 million subscribers, and 20 million in Q3.
In their operational highlights, the company said:
Broadcast (of) the Olympic Winter Games … drove an increased number of new paid streaming subscribers, the total of which exceeded PyeongChang 2018 by almost 50%. Additionally, well over half of all new Olympics subscribers engaged with discovery+’s entertainment content, reinforcing the increased depth and value of our offering.
Earlier this year, a huge deal between Discovery and WarnerMedia was announced. The merger is set to be approved at a stockholder meeting on March 11, with the expectation to close in mid-April.
This agreement combines movie studio Warner Bros. with linear TV networks including CNN, TBS, TNT, Discovery, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, and Animal Planet.
In a statement during the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference in September, Discovery CEO David Zaslav said, “We have great content. A library almost as big or bigger than Netflix.”
In recent months, discovery+ has expanded its reach in new locations and additional devices. In October, the streaming service made its Canadian debut. LG smart TV users and VIZIO SmartCast TV owners recently gained access to the service as well.
discovery+
discovery+ is a video streaming service that offers more than 70,000 episodes of 2,500+ current and classic shows from several popular TV brands including Discovery, Investigation Discovery, HGTV, TLC, Food Network, A&E, Lifetime, and History.