Discovery Plus streaming service launching in India

Discovery is launching streaming service Discovery Plus in India, priced at INR299 (€3.65) a year as an introductory offer.

The initial phase of the launch will see the app made available to about 25 million consumers in major cities.

The service will make content across multiple genres available in eight languages – Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi. A free tier will be available featuring archive content and short-form features targeted at mobile users.

The launch of the service will feature Into the Wild with Bear Grylls featuring Indian movie star Rajinikanth.

Simon Robinson, president APAC and CFO, international, Discovery, said: “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.”

David Zaslav

Discovery’s plans for an Indian streaming service were first reported by our sister title TBI last year, with the project growing out of a partnership between the factual giant and Indian news aggregation service DailyHunt.

Discovery chief executive David Zaslav recently signalled that the company planned to significantly ramp up its global streaming presence this year, with plans to expand the presence of European streamer DPlay in a number of markets and a strategy of seeking JV partners in local markets.

Discovery has also signed an agreement with streaming service Starzplay Arabia to bring DPlay to that region.