KOLKATA: Just as the pandemic starting snarling in India, Discovery Plus had only just taken off its OTT journey. However, the lockdown and the boost it gave to digital viewing seems to have aided the new entrant.  

“We launched on the eve of lockdown. So a lot of OTTs have data that how subscribers were moving before and how they are behaving after it. We didn't have that visibility. We were in the lockdown when we launched and consumption happened during the lockdown and we continue to live through this. But, our subscription estimates are actually well ahead of what we had estimated. There has definitely been a lot of consumer love that's come our way in terms of consumers going for Discovery Plus subscriptions,” says Discovery Digital (south Asia) business head Issac John.

Some other indicators, John said, were the 4.5 ratings for the app on App Store and Play Store as well as qualitative comments such as being able to watch with their families. He added that Discovery Plus is the only OTT player which works with two kinds of vectors. While one is essentially the lifelong learner’s vector, it is also catering to certain passion verticals. 

After getting consumer requests, Discovery Plus has also launched its service on Fire TV, even though its main priority was iOS, Android and mobile web. Android TV app is also on the way.

“We have seen time spent on Fire TV is 2.4x than the mobile format. I think what ends up happening is that when you consume content as premium as we have at Discovery Plus, your attachment to the content really goes up significantly That is also essentially like a clear sign on of how consumers love us on the big screen,” John added.

Discovery Plus, emphasising the big-screen delight experience, launched a new marketing campaign that runs across all 14 Discovery network channels as well as on all key digital platforms. 

“A part of our retention strategy is to ensure that the consumers have enough choice pertaining to the specific interests they came for. Moreover, at any point in time, in any given month, we will launch anywhere between 20 to 30 shows from our bank which is a mix of specials, exclusive acquisitions, etc,” John stated.  

John said that it would be launching some premium BBC titles to strengthen the learning vector as well as female-friendly content, which haven’t been exposed so far. 

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