First Price Increase Since Launch

Warner Bros. Discovery is hiking the price of Discovery+ by nearly 30% in the U.S. and Canada, effective immediately.

Reason for the Price Hike

It’s the first time Discovery+ has increased the price of a monthly subscription in the markets since launching in January 2021. “This will allow us to continue to provide can’t miss-stories in the food, home, relationships, true crime, paranormal genres — plus so much more,” the company said in announcing the change.

New Pricing Details

Effective Oct. 3, the price of a new Discovery+ ad-free monthly subscription in the U.S. will increase from $6.99 to $8.99 (plus applicable taxes). The tier with ads will not change, remaining $4.99/month. In Canada, the price of a new Discovery+ ad-free monthly subscription will increase from $6.99 CAD to $8.99 CAD. The price of a new discovery+ ad-lite subscription will change from $4.99 CAD to $5.99 CAD.

Impact on Existing Subscribers

Warner Bros. Discovery said existing subscribers will see their monthly rate increase on their next billing cycle on or after Nov. 2.

Discovery+ Subscriber Numbers

The media conglomerate hasn’t detailed how many Discovery+ subscribers it has. In relaunching HBO Max as Max this spring, the service added hundreds of new shows from the Discovery side of the house, which were previously available to stream only via Discovery+.

Stand-Alone Version of Discovery+

Apparently, there is still demand for a stand-alone version of Discovery+, which features current and older TV shows from Discovery’s portfolio of networks, including HGTV, Food Network, TLC, ID, OWN, Travel Channel, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and Magnolia Network, along with a bucket of original titles and exclusive content.