Discovery+ Streaming Service Bets Big on Ambient TV
To the millions of Americans who have canceled their cable, streaming services like Netflix or Disney+ seem to offer much more than the traditional TV feed. In the age of prestige television, binge-watchers turn to Hulu or Apple TV+ for fine fare, seeking artistry, vivid performances and complex narratives.
But do some non-cable watchers yearn for a time when they could flip on any old channel for background noise as they fold the laundry or as mindless content as they drift off to sleep?
That’s the wager one media giant is making on the newest entrant to the streaming wars: Discovery+.
“We’re not as shiny”
The new service, which went live on Monday, offers a variety of mostly unscripted content from networks like HGTV, Food Network, TLC, ID, Animal Planet, and the company’s flagship Discovery Channel. But unlike the movie stars and Emmy darlings that other services have used to lure customers, Discovery+ is taking a decidedly low-frills path.
“Almost all of the players in the business moved toward scripted series and scripted movies,” explains David Zaslav, the chief executive of Discovery. “They went to the big stars and the red carpet. The big shiny object.” But, he almost brags, “we’re not as shiny. And we don’t have a lot of red carpets.”
Still, do consumers want to subscribe to yet another service, just so they can watch it with one eye while scrolling through Instagram with the other? “We are betting the company that they do,” Zaslav declares.
Discovery+ will not feature any Reese Witherspoon bookclub dramas, Meryl Streep award vehicles, or expansions of the Star Wars universe. Instead, it will rely on 55,000 hours of guilty pleasure content from series like “Diners, Drive-ins & Dives,” “My Strange Addiction,” and “90-Day Fiancée.” Yes, Judi Dench is attached to one project, a nature special that previously aired in the UK. But the two-hour PBS-style travelogue is hardly a piece literature. In short, Discovery+ will serve up mind-numbing comfort TV for the less-engaged.
Ambient TV
Still, there is the question of whether anyone will pay for such a service. After all, you can already find enough mind-numbing content on Netflix, with titles like Dream Home Makeover and Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. But the popularity of such series may be a sign that Discovery has found an opportune niche.
In November, as the world bore witness to a reality show presidential election and an exhausting pandemic, Kyle Chayka wrote about “The Rise of Ambient TV” for the New Yorker. The snarky love-letter was directed toward Emily in Paris, a scripted Netflix series that is about as frivolous as it is charming. Chayka argues that television that can be played at low volume in the distance is like a friend who hangs around the house with you. And as the world continues to shelter from the coronavirus, even an imaginary roommate is a welcome reprieve.
As for Discovery+, only time will tell how formidable a force it will be in the nearly saturated streaming field. But for $5/month with ads or $7/month ad-free, you can now make that determination yourself.