Discovery Inc.’s direct-to-consumer streaming video strategy is expanding, and CEO David Zaslav today provided an overview of where his company is and where it’s going.
The company’s streaming service approach is focused on three broad consumer categories: sports, lifestyle and factual.
For sports, Discovery Inc. operates three main products: Eurosport Player, which operates across most of Europe; GolfTV, which includes global PGA Tour golf content; and Global Cycling Network.
For lifestyle, Discovery Inc. operates MotorTrend and an upcoming Magnolia streaming service from Chip and Joanna Gaines, which Discovery said should launch in 2020. The company also said it is exploring streaming service options in the food and cooking programming space.
In addition, Discovery Inc. is working with BBC to soon launch a new service.
Zaslav also talked about three additional streaming video products that Discovery is operating in Europe: TVN Player, a subscription streaming service in Poland; DPlay, a hybrid SVOD/AVOD service in the Nordics; and Joyn, a free streaming service that Discovery runs along with Prosieben in Germany.
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“Overall, our ambitions are to create strong multi-platform ecosystems driving opportunities for multiple revenue streams,” Zaslav said during today’s Discovery Inc. earnings call. Those revenue streams including advertising, subscription revenue, sponsorships, e-commerce retail and instructional content.
Discovery provided color on its shift to digital and direct-to-consumer as part of its second-quarter earnings report. The company’s consolidated revenues of $2.88 billion rose just 1% year over year as a 5% increase in U.S. Networks revenues was partially offset by a 3% decrease in International Networks revenues. Despite the flat overall revenue growth, both Discovery’s domestic and international business segments saw advertising growth of 6% and 5% respectively.
Adjusted Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (OIBDA) of $1.28 billion was up 5%, as a 15% increase in U.S. Networks adjusted OIBDA was partially offset by a 15% decrease in International Networks adjusted OIBDA.