Viewers in the UK & Ireland will be able to subscribe to a new advertising-supported version of discovery+.
The new discovery+ Entertainment Pass will feature a limited amount of advertising whilst the Entertainment & Sport Pass remains ad-free on-demand. It will be priced at £3.99 per month (£39.99 for an annual subscription) compared to £6.99 (£59.99) for the ad-free version.
The ‘Ad-Lite’ product is already live in the United States and it’s planned to roll it out across EMEA later in the year.
James Gibbons, EVP, GM UK and Nordics, Discovery Inc, said: “We are pleased to outline our ‘Ad-Lite’ proposition in the UK and Ireland for discovery+, following the successful roll-out for Discovery in the US. Increased SVOD stacking is driving interest in ad-supported options globally and, as the market only gets more competitive, we want to offer UK consumers that same choice and value through discovery+.”
Gibbons added that the Ad Lite would offer “less than half” the number of ads found on linear television.
Katie Coteman, VP Head of Advertising and Partnerships Discovery Networks UK & Ireland, added: “We know that Connected TV is where advertiser budgets are growing as they seek to follow viewers beyond linear, traditionally there hasn’t been the premium scale available in the UK but over three-quarters of consumption of discovery+ through Connected TV we are able to offer a premium environment with the scale advertisers have been looking for.”
NBC’s Peacock, which is currently exclusive to Sky, runs a completely ad-supported model. Public broadcasters ITV and Channel 4 both offer ad-free versions of their streaming service in return for a small subscription.
