Discovery has announced the global rollout of its direct-to-consumer (DTC) service, Discovery+. In the US, Discovery has a relatively straightforward story to tell: a stable of channels focused on "real life" content with a single business model—basic cable—pivoting towards DTC distribution. In Europe, on which this note focuses, things are more complicated.

Contents

In the UK, carriage on Sky Q will give the new service the opportunity to prove its worth to viewers

Elsewhere in Europe, Discovery seeks to bundle too

Ultimate success will come down to whether Discovery's "real-life content" is essential and defensible

List of charts/tables

Figure 1: Discovery group share of viewing by country, 2015-9M 2020 (%)

Figure 2: UK SVOD households by number of subscriptions, 2020