discovery+ subscription prices are increasing by as much as $2
discovery+ subscription prices are increasing by as much as $2
It still remains to be seen what the future holds for the lean-back service now that it is owned by Skydance, but, for now, it is getting more expensive to stream.
Now that Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery have been merged into Skydance, there are still significant questions about how Casey Bloys will handle all of the disparate arms of the new company’s streaming operations. After some earlier misleading signals in the press, last week, CEO David Ellison confirmed that Paramount+ and HBO Max, following a bundling phase, would eventually merge. However, he did not confirm how that would impact WBD’s other streaming service, discovery+. While the platform’s fate is still up in the air, on Monday, it was announced that a subscription — regardless of tier — to the service would be more expensive, effective immediately for new customers.
Key Details:
- Prices are going up: discovery+ is raising prices on all subscription plans.
- Dynamic pricing: The ad-supported plan will increase by $1, while ad-free will go up $2.
- Future prospects: Now that Skydance owns the streamer, its long-term prognosis is very much in the air.
The price of the ad-supported version of discovery+ will move from $6 to $7 per month, while the ad-free option will jump $2 to $12 monthly. The prices are already reflected on the streamer’s website for new customers, while existing subscribers will receive 30 days’ notice of their next renewal, and the more expensive rate will be reflected on their bills beginning on Nov. 12. The streamer last raised prices in January 2025.
The platform is the streaming home of series found on cable channels, including Animal Planet, Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, Investigation Discovery, Magnolia Network, and TLC, in addition to a handful of streaming exclusives. While not all of the discovery+ library is available to stream on HBO Max, many of the most popular series can be found at the former WBD flagship streamer. Both platforms stream current-season episodes the day after they air on their respective cable channels.
The fact that shows from the Discovery side of the WBD operation were available on HBO Max is a byproduct of the company's attempt to rebrand the service as “Max,” a one-stop shop for all of its streaming offerings. However, after two years, in 2025, WBD realized that the Frankensteining of two very different platforms wasn’t having the desired effect, so they rebranded back to HBO Max. However, the discovery+ content remained available on the renamed service.
Now that Skydance has control of Paramount+, HBO Max, and discovery+, it does call into question what the future will be for the lean-back comfort streamer. When Ellison purchased Paramount, he shut down all of the company's various streaming services and moved their libraries over to Paramount+. While it still seems likely that customers will need separate subscriptions to stream Paramount+ and HBO Max even after they are on the same platform (as Disney requires for Hulu, even though it can be accessed via Disney+), it would fit within Skydance’s track record to simply fold discovery+ into one of the services.
However, until that decision is made, fans of the various home renovation, cooking and baking, true crime, and investigative shows found on discovery+ will have to pay a bit more to stream them.
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 The History Channel. The service primarily focuses on non-fiction programming and reality TV shows.