Discovery+ has established itself as the UK’s fastest growing paid streaming platform, with its parent company’s nearly £1bn acquisition of Olympic rights from the BBC appearing to yield positive results.
Six years ago, Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), which operates Discovery+ in the UK and the Max streaming service across Europe, along with broadcast channels like Eurosport, secured a €1.3bn (£1.1bn) pan-European agreement with the International Olympic Committee. This marked the first time that viewers had to pay for a TV or streaming subscription to access all Olympic events.
As per UK regulations concerning “listed” or protected events, the Olympics must still be significantly covered live by a free-to-air broadcaster.
During the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, viewers expressed dissatisfaction with the sub-licensing agreement between the BBC and Discovery. This arrangement reduced the BBC’s previous comprehensive coverage on TV and its 24 live streams. For the upcoming Paris 2024, the BBC will air only 250 hours of live TV and a maximum of two live events simultaneously.
Despite this shift, fans have adjusted to the new viewing environment this year, with subscriber growth for Discovery+ outpacing all competing services in the second quarter leading up to Paris 2024.
According to Kantar’s latest Entertainment on Demand report, the streaming service has emerged as the “standout performer” in the UK against competitors such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV+.
“We are very much hitting our straps,” stated Andrew Georgiou, head of WBD’s European sports division.
“We have just renewed our Olympics partnership to include Brisbane 2032, which indicates how successful the initial cycle has been. It has continued to grow. We are pleased with our investment in the Olympics and our ongoing collaboration with the BBC.”
WBD plans to broadcast 350 hours of live TV for the Paris Games across Europe, totaling 3,800 hours of coverage—an increase of 300 hours compared to Tokyo—across two Eurosport channels and seven pop-up TV channels, alongside more than 55 streaming feeds that cover all events.
The viewer-friendly time zone of the Paris Olympics has significantly benefited viewership.
Streaming audiences for Paris 2024 have already exceeded the total viewership of Tokyo 2020 by day two, as reported by WBD.
The demand for comprehensive coverage has led Discovery+ and Max to gain more paying subscribers during the first four days of Paris than during the entire Games in Japan, although WBD did not disclose the new subscriber figures.
By the fifth day of the Games, the European audience reached 100 million, which is nearly a third higher than the same timeframe during Tokyo, according to WBD.
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Georgiou noted that their Olympic TV coverage is drawing nearly double the audience of the Tokyo Games, with viewing minutes on the Discovery+ app quadrupling compared to the Games held in Japan.
However, Discovery+ has historically faced a high churn rate, as customers often cancel their subscriptions after consuming must-watch content, particularly due to its limited depth compared to platforms like Netflix.
“The service had a strong first quarter and has become the fastest growing paid video-on-demand service in terms of subscriber growth,” remarked Andrew Skerratt, global insights director at Kantar. “Discovery+’s elevated churn rates will pose challenges going forward, particularly for households drawn in by specific content.”
Georgiou mentioned that the UK has performed exceptionally well in acquiring new subscribers and their engagement levels, which bodes well for long-term retention.
He added that with the full Max streaming service expected to launch in the UK in 2026, offering a much wider array of TV and film content for subscribers, churn rates are projected to decrease further.
“That is the primary metric we are focusing on as a business,” he emphasized. “Sports content is excellent for attracting new subscribers, but retaining them is crucial.”
