Discovery launches latest direct-to-consumer offering In Italy

As the direct-to-consumer market around the world goes into overdrive, Discovery has announced that it is expanding its digital offering in Italy, with today’s launch of Dplay Plus, a subscription streaming service that will offer premium content from brands including Discovery Channel, Discovery Science, Animal Planet and ID.

According to Discovery, the new SVOD service will complement Discovery Italia’s linear channels and its existing Dplay AVOD product, which has built up a monthly user base of 2.1m since it launched nearly four years old. Kasia Kieli (right), president & managing director, Discovery EMEA, said: “It is part of our strategy to create digital services across EMEA for curious and passionate fans of all generations. Building on the success of our existing player, Dplay Plus is a premium subscription service that gives viewers access to high quality content, whenever and wherever they want it.”

Dplay Plus will be available through a dedicated app, and can be downloaded at App Store and Google Play, through Samsung, Apple and Android smart TV applications. It will offer a mix of box sets, series streamed without ads and some pre-linear exclusive premieres (shows available at launch include Deadliest Catch, Gold Rush and Houdini’s Last Secrets). The announcement of the new Dplay Plus service in Italy follows a similar move by Discovery in the Netherlands in February. It also comes hard on the heels of the firm’s global content partnership with the BBC (excluding UK, Ireland and Greater China) for premium natural history content that will play on a new global Discovery factual streaming platform to launch by 2020.