Discovery+ Review 2023: Stream From 21 Popular Networks for $4.99

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Discovery+ is a subscription streaming service that features content from popular networks such as HGTV, TLC, A&E and Food Network.

After making a splash as a new video streaming service in 2021, discovery+ is proving to be one of the best streaming values in 2023.

Discovery, Inc. says the service offers more than 55,000 hours of programming from some of its top content producers as well as new shows created just for the streaming service.

The company calls its new venture the “definitive non-fiction, real-life subscription streaming service.” But discovery+ is playing for a piece of the pie in the increasingly-congested monthly subscription market that includes big players such as Disney, Apple, Amazon and Netflix.

Will discovery+ be able to differentiate itself in the marketplace?

In this article, Team Clark will explore the streaming service to help you decide if it’s worth your time as a new entertainment option.


Table of Contents


What Is discovery+?

Discovery+ is an on-demand video streaming service that features both original content and popular shows from 21 different television networks.

While you can’t stream live channels on this service, the library of on-demand content is more than 55,000 hours deep. That includes more than 70,000 episodes of series from HGTV, History Channel, A&E, TLC, Food Network and more.

And with personalities like Chip and Joanna Gaines, the Property Brothers and Guy Fieri on board to star in new shows for the streaming service, discovery+ already has an impressive library of original content.


How Can I Get Discovery+?

Customers in the United States have several options for streaming discovery+ via phone, tablet, computer, television or streaming device.

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Pricing

Discovery+’s subscription plans start at $4.99 per month. At this basic level, you’ll have to watch some ads (more on that later). And at the time of this article, discovery+ was offering a special discount on the first year of an annual subscription.

You have the option to upgrade to an ad-free version for $8.99 per month.

Subscription TierMonthly Subscription
Ad-supported$4.99 per month
Ad-free$8.99 per month

Each account includes up to five user profiles and four concurrent streams.

This pricing is in line with that of Disney+, which is available ad-supported for $7.99 per month or $79.99 per year. It’s also comparable to NBC’s Peacock, which has a $4.99 ad-supported subscription level.

Free Trials and Verizon Freebies

Discovery+ is offering a seven-day free trial for all new customers. A credit card is required. You can select either the $4.99 or $6.99 plan for the free trial, which will be billed to your card if you don’t cancel prior to the expiration of your free trial.

If you are a Verizon customer, there’s a chance that you could get up to a year of discovery+ for free.

  • New and existing wireless customers with a 5G Play More or 5G Get More Unlimited plan can get 12 months of discovery+ at no charge.
  • Customers with 5G Start or 5G Do More Unlimited plans can get six months of discovery+ at no charge.
  • Verizon 5G Home Internet or Fios Gigabit Connection customers are no longer eligible for this promotion As of January 2022, Verizon says this “is only available to new and existing customers with eligible Unlimited phone plans.”

If you’re unsure which Verizon freebie applies to you, there is more information to help you here.

Devices

You can access discovery+ content from the following devices:

  • Android phones and tablets (through app in Google Play Store)
  • Apple phones and tablets (through app in Apple App Store)
  • Amazon Fire TV & Fire Stick
  • Android TV
  • Apple TV
  • Google Chromecast
  • Roku devices
  • Samsung TVs
  • Xbox gaming consoles
  • Web browsers via desktop or laptop

If you don’t see your streaming device listed, you can get more information on how to stream discovery+ here.


What TV Networks and Shows Are on discovery+?

If you were going by name alone, you might confuse this as simply a streaming version of the Discovery Channel. But it’s much more than that.

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While the Discovery Channel’s content is included, there is a lot more.

I poked around the service to uncover just what type of entertainment you’re getting from the 55,000+ hours of content discovery+ promises.

Content from 21 Different Networks

Discovery+ includes content from a total of 21 networks:

  • HGTV
  • Food Network
  • TLC
  • Discovery Channel
  • ID (Investigation Discovery)
  • Animal Planet
  • A&E
  • History Channel
  • Lifetime
  • Magnolia Network (Chip and Joanna Gaines’ new network)
  • OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network)
  • Science Channel
  • Travel Channel
  • BBC
  • Discovery+ Originals
  • CNN Originals
  • Cooking Channel
  • Planet Earth
  • Destination America
  • AHC
  • Discovery Life

The good news: Most of your favorites from these channels likely are represented with at least a portion of their catalogs. That makes for a pretty robust offering.

The bad news: This is not a live stream of these channels. You’re getting only on-demand content here, so you’re likely going to have to continue to pay for cable or a live streaming service if you want to watch new episodes as they first air.

Popular TV Shows Available To Stream

  • Fixer Upper (Chip and Joanna Gaines)
  • Property Brothers (Jonathan and Drew Scott)
  • Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (Guy Fieri)
  • 90-Day Fiance
  • Ice Road Truckers
  • The First 48
  • Pawn Stars
  • American Pickers
  • Dance Moms
  • Storage Wars
  • Flip or Flop
  • Love It or List It
  • Cake Wars
  • Good Eats
  • Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares
  • Dr. Pimple Popper
  • Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe
  • Gold Rush
  • BBC’s Planet Earth
  • Mythbusters

Really, the list of archived content from these 21 networks goes on and on. The list above is just a small sampling of some of the popular titles available.

But there are some things you should know about these titles:

Your mileage may vary on the amount of each series you can stream on discovery+. For example, you can find all 17 seasons of HGTV’s Love It or List It but only three seasons of History’s long-running Pawn Stars.

If your favorite show is still in production for network television, you’re not likely to see the latest episodes on this service right away. As with Netflix or Hulu, there appears to be a waiting period before you’ll be able to binge the newest episodes.


Original Content on discovery+

If you are worried that a subscription to discovery+ is just asking for old reruns of legacy shows … don’t be.

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There is a large helping of new content that is original to the streaming platform. And it includes some pretty big Discovery, Inc. stars.

Discovery+ produced more than 1,000 hours of original content during its first year of operation in 2021. And there seems to be more on the way in 2023.

This included some spinoffs from some of the company’s existing television talent. These may be the biggest draw for consumers who love the channels but are on the fence about paying for the service.

Some big names, including Kevin Hart, Ludacris, Amy Schumer and David Schwimmer also have projects that are either already live on the streaming network or are set to launch on the platform in the next year.

Here’s a look at some of the original content you can already enjoy on discovery+.

Magnolia Table with Joanna Gaines

During my trial subscription, I was able to watch the debut episode of Joanna Gaines’ new cooking show.

And that’s really just the beginning of Magnolia Network content that discovery+ subscribers will get to see, as Chip and Joanna Gaines rolled out their own network in 2021. It replaced the DIY Network on traditional cable TV and live TV streaming services.

Bobby and Giada in Italy

Popular Food Network stars Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis’ new show chronicles their road trip across Italy in search of the country’s top culinary experiences.

Six Degrees with Mike Rowe

Mike Rowe stars in a new discovery+ original.
discovery+ phone app

The no-nonsense handyman who is famous for his hit Discovery Channel show, Dirty Jobs, has a new project on discovery+ that sets out to prove that all things are connected.

American Detective with Lt. Joe Kenda

This true-crime series is hosted by popular Investigation Discovery detective Joe Kenda. It promises to guide you through “complex twists and turns” of some of the most “incredibly disturbing and mind-blowing cases” from across the United States.

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User Experience with discovery+

For this review, I took advantage of the seven-day free trial and loaded discovery+ onto both my Google phone and TV streaming device.

Television App

I found the television interface to be pretty straightforward with the focus on easily searchable categories in a tile menu format. It reminds me of the Disney+ layout in that it has both horizontal and verticle menu bars that help you navigate the app in different ways.

The main menu of discovery+ streaming service

As you can see in the photo above, the left side of the screen has a five-option menu:

  • Home
  • My List (The + indicates content that you’ve favorited for easy access)
  • Tile Menu
  • Search
  • Profile Options

And across the top of the screen, you can slide through genre categories like relationships, true crime, home, food, lifestyle and more to dive down into specific types of content.

You can also select one of the 21 featured television networks to drill down into content that originated on that particular network.

Phone and Tablet App

Joanna Gaines is prominently featured on discovery+ content.
discovery+ Android app

As you can see in the image above, the landing page for the Android app is different from the TV app, but it does accomplish many of the same objectives with its table and tile options.

It was very easy to search through tiles of content, pick a season of a show and then a specific episode. The app also keeps up with your progress on shows, giving you the option on the landing page to “continue watching” a series where you left off without having to go back through the search process.

How Bad Are the Ads?

As I mentioned earlier, I opted into a seven-day free trial of the $4.99 ad-supported version of discovery+. This was intentional, as I wanted to be able to report back to you on what you could expect to see at the basic subscription level.

Here’s what my research uncovered:

  • For your typical “30-minute TV show” with a run-time of 22-24 minutes, you can expect to endure two commercial breaks. Each is going to be one minute long and typically includes one 30-second commercial and two 15-second commercials.
  • For the typical “hour-long show” with a run-time of 43-45 minutes, you can expect three commercial breaks. I found each of the breaks to last a minute; they sometimes included just one ad in the whole break.
  • The ads you’ll see are from major American brands. There was nothing shady or seedy in my experience: They’re the same kinds of ads you’d probably see on one of the 21 Discovery cable networks.

Final Thoughts on discovery+

After watching NBC, HBO, Disney, Apple and a few others jump into the on-demand streaming game, I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical that discovery+ would make much of a splash in an already crowded market.

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But after spending time on it during a free trial, I can confidently say that my household would get its $4.99 worth each month if we decided to keep the subscription.

Not only does it have a little bit of something for everyone from 21 popular television networks, but it also has a surprisingly good menu of original content options that feature stars and brands that could have lasting power.

As with all streaming services, it’s a good idea to take advantage of the free trial to check out discovery+. But I think plenty of cord-cutters will find it offers many of the hit non-scripted shows they enjoyed on cable.

And at $4.99 with no long-term obligation, it’s hard to go wrong with this one.

Will you be looking to add discovery+ to your streaming options in 2023? Let us know what you think in the Clark.com Community!


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