Discovery aims for streaming ‘SUV’ against Netflix and Amazon ‘sports cars’

Discovery is close to unveiling details of plans for a US streaming service that CEO David Zaslav likened to “a new SUV” that would set out on the road built by Netflix and Amazon but currently primarily used by those companies’ “great sports cars”.

David Zaslav

Speaking to analysts after Discovery posted its latest quarterly numbers, Zaslav said that Discovery’s planned offering would be “filled with a large amount of fresh content, a huge amount of original content”. He said that the offering would be “a differentiated service” and would be “unlike a lot of these other products” that have been launched as consumers turn to streaming.

Zaslav said that the content on Discovery’s service would complement the likes of Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video.

“If you have Disney+ or Amazon, or any video product, who wouldn’t want what we have? It’s what most women in America watch all the time,” he said.

Within the US, Zaslav identified the 30 million homes that take broadband but not pay TV from service providers as a key target market.

He said that Discovery expected to have “multiple [distribution] partners and that is how we’re going to be successful domestically and around the world”.

Zaslav said that outside the US, Discovery’s strength in the streaming business would be based on its ability to differentiate locally, with local sport and other content tailored to specific territories.