Another month, another change to Discovery+ – and this time they’re eliminating their last remaining annual subscription option, scrapping the discounted Basic tier yearly plan that used to save viewers nearly £8.
As of this week, Discovery+ now only offers two subscription options for UK viewers: the Basic monthly plan at £3.99/month, and the Premium (with TNT Sports) monthly plan at £30.99/month.
No annual discounts, no middle tier – just two very different price points.
This move is part of an ongoing series of changes Warner Bros. Discovery has been rolling out over the past couple of years, as they continue to shuffle their streaming deck ahead of the anticipated UK launch of their global Max streaming platform.
The biggest change – also taking place this week – is the elimination of Eurosport, and the Standard tier that went along with it.
What’s Changed With Discovery+ Pricing?
Until this week, Discovery+ still offered an annual subscription option for its Basic tier (formerly called Entertainment), priced at £39.99/year – giving subscribers a decent discount compared to paying the £3.99 monthly rate over 12 months.
That option has now been completely removed, forcing all subscribers to pay the higher monthly rate, regardless of which tier they choose.
Existing annual subscribers will be able to continue their service for now, but Warner Bros. Discovery tells us they will be contacting annual subscribers from early summer onwards, and move them to monthly subscriptions.
This change is just the latest in Discovery+’s seemingly never-ending restructuring:
In late 2023, they rebranded their tiers, with “Entertainment” becoming “Basic” and “Entertainment & Sports” becoming “Standard”
Around the same time, they axed the discounted annual plan for the Standard tier, which had previously saved sports fans a decent chunk at £59.99/year (compared to £83.88 when paying monthly)
In January 2024, they bumped up the Premium tier (with TNT Sports) from £29.99 to £30.99/month
The Disappearing Middle Tier
Perhaps the most dramatic recent change to Discovery+’s setup came earlier this month, when WBD announced that Eurosport would vanish from UK and Irish TV screens on February 28, with all its content moving to TNT Sports.
That change killed off the Standard tier (previously £6.99/month), which had included Eurosport content alongside the regular entertainment programming.
The removal of this middle tier has created an enormous price gap in Discovery+’s offerings – jumping from the Basic tier at £3.99/month all the way to the Premium tier at £30.99/month, with nothing in between.
This particularly hits sports fans who mainly wanted Eurosport’s content (like tennis Grand Slams, cycling tours, and winter sports) but didn’t care about TNT Sports’ pricier offerings like Premier League football matches.
Those viewers now face a massive price hike or losing access to their favourite sports altogether.
This change is also painful for Sky and Virgin Media customers, who previously got Eurosport channels at no extra cost in their basic packages.
From February 28, these viewers will need to shell out for TNT Sports packages to keep watching this content.
It’s also worth noting that BOTH tiers include adverts – there’s no way whatsoever to watch Discovery+ (either Basic or Premium) without ad breaks.
Looking Ahead: Max On The Horizon
The elimination of annual plans and simplification of Discovery+’s tiers might be setting the stage for even bigger changes ahead, as Warner Bros. Discovery prepares to launch its global Max streaming service in the UK next year.
Max, which has already replaced HBO Max in the US and some other regions, combines HBO’s premium dramas with Discovery’s lifestyle and factual programming, plus other Warner Bros. content.
When Max arrives in the UK, we’ll likely see new bundling options that combine Max with Discovery+ and its sports offerings, similar to how Disney bundles Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ in the American market.
Warner Bros. Discovery hasn’t revealed specific details about how Max will be priced in the UK or how it might work with existing Discovery+ subscriptions.
But their recent moves suggest they’re cleaning house ahead of this major launch.
How To Get Discovery+
Despite all these changes, Discovery+’s content is still available through several platforms:
- Direct Discovery+ Basic or Premium subscription (£3.99 / £30.99/month)
- Amazon Prime Video Channels
- Sky (as an add-on package, included in some bundles)
- Virgin Media TV (as an add-on package)
- EE TV (various subscription options)
For sports fans interested in TNT Sports content (which will now include all Eurosport programming), options include the Discovery+ Premium tier or adding TNT Sports to existing Sky, Virgin Media, or EE TV subscriptions.
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They have said Sport will no longer be on Discovery+ when Max launches