Discovery+ is sticking around. It’s a strategy shift for Warner Bros. Discovery

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN

Discovery+ isn’t disappearing, after all.

Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, has decided to continue offering the Discovery+ streaming platform in the United States, according to a source familiar with the company’s plans. That marks a sharp reversal from the media company’s previous plan to combine Discovery+ with HBO Max into one streaming service. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.

The company has not changed its plan to combine HBO Max and Discovery+ into an “enhanced platform” later this year, a key synergy that Warner Bros. Discovery identified following its April 2022 merger, the source said. CEO David Zaslav has frequently said customers want fewer, not more, streaming options to choose from.

But the company fears it could lose a significant number of subscribers if it forces Discovery+ customers to pay more for a combined app, the Journal reported.

Discovery+ costs $6.99 per month without ads and $4.99 per month with ads. That’s much cheaper than HBO Max, which costs $15.99 per month without ads. A tier with ads costs $9.99 per month. Warner Bros. Discovery has not said how much the combined service will cost subscribers.

HBO Max and Discovery+ don’t have a significant amount of genre overlap. HBO Max features Warner Bros. films, Turner Classic Movies and HBO’s prestige documentaries, comedy specials and dramas, such as “The Last of Us.” Discovery+ includes a heavy dose of reality television, including such Food Network and TLC shows as “Chopped.”

Warner Bros. Discovery doesn’t break out the number of subscribers on each platform, but it currently has nearly 95 million global subscribers for HBO, HBO Max and Discovery+, combined.

Wall Street analysts expect the company will unveil more details about the combined platform when Warner Bros. Discovery reports earnings on February 23.

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