topic Re: Ads for Discovery Plus in Community Chat

Ads for Discovery Plus

Mom2Dogs — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 02:40:05 GMT

...anyone seen these ads? Looks like most programs will now be 'streamed'

Does this mean Discovery will no longer be available on Cable TV?

We currently have Spectrum and watch several different programs on Discovery....I did look on line and I get the 'feeling' we will be losing the channel. I guess I will have to call Spectrum to find out.

Re: Ads for Discovery Plus

Nuttmeg — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 05:24:59 GMT

@Mom2Dogs wrote:
...anyone seen these ads? Looks like most programs will now be 'streamed'
Does this mean Discovery will no longer be available on Cable TV?
We currently have Spectrum and watch several different programs on Discovery....I did look on line and I get the 'feeling' we will be losing the channel. I guess I will have to call Spectrum to find out.

@Mom2Dogs

I heard about this the other day. Discovery plus will be offered free for 12 months to Verizon customers in January 2021.

The service will be available to TV and some unlimited cellular wireless customers.

Re: Ads for Discovery Plus

Snowpuppy — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 03:19:36 GMT

CNBC interviewed the CEO of Discovery last week and this is for cord cutters. At a price per month, you can watch all of Oprah's and MORE HGTV reruns than ever! 🤤

No release date was specified other than early 2021.

I'm assuming they will stay on cable but I don't recall it being addressed.

YAWN!

Re: Ads for Discovery Plus

Mom2Dogs — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 11:51:00 GMT

Thanks...I hope Discovery does not leave Spectrum...even tho we pay $210.00/month...internet, cable and landline....and have many channels we watch about 10..... with Discovery being one of them.

Re: Ads for Discovery Plus

Susan-QVC — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 14:11:50 GMT

This post has been removed by QVC inappropriate

Re: Ads for Discovery Plus

hckynut — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 15:09:02 GMT

@Mom2Dogs

Have seen the same one on Dish Network. I assumed it meant "in addition to", like an a a-la-carte.

hckynut

Re: Ads for Discovery Plus

cindyNC — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 15:36:49 GMT

I looked up the deal w/Verizon and it's only for customers who have the "unlimited" plan.

Discovery+ is going to be available on Amazon, android etc...not on standard television.

My understanding is that shows like the tell-alls can get away with more racey programming then on standard TV. The tell-all for the 90 that ended last week will be on Discovery+ (I think).

Re: Ads for Discovery Plus

Spurt — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 19:57:57 GMT

I saw this coming for all the cord cutters---the future does not look bright----

Some will be paying $6.99 for Discovery, $6.99 for Disney Plus (or $12.99 for Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus), then there's Peacock TV free for now, but will be $5 a month (I dont know about your area but AT&T and Direct TV are threatening to pull NBC from their lineups).... And dont forget CBS All Access (Paramount +), Netflix, Apple TV, HBO Max, Starz etc...Add it all up and dont forget you will need to pay for a powerful internet service to stream all this........ But a lot of cable is still tied into live events --- like live news events, the Academy Awards and live sporting events---NFL, NBA, Olympics etc etc....with streaming many events will require you to wait a day to view programming or events......Some believe that cable with EVENTUALLY revert back to just basic packages and you will have to get and pay the rest through streaming....

Here's a report from a Consumer Blog---(its long but good information)

The gist of a recent market report from Ampere Analysis, which took close looks at just how much the average U.S. household spends on video entertainment. As it turns out, cold turkey cord-cutters end up spending about as much as cable subscribers do once they replace their linear cable service with streaming alternatives. That's why Ampere believes the eventual maximum number of streaming services any given household in the U.S. could eventually reach is as high as eight. Over the past 12 to 18 months streaming services have been raising their prices, too. They're still cheaper than cable, but the savings might not be as large as you expect.

And while "cord-cutting" has become a popular term, chances are you won’t really be cutting ties with your TV provider—that same company may provide your internet connection and phone service. That makes pricing complicated to untangle. Bundles are the glue that keeps many of us stuck to a pay-TV package. In addition to the convenience of getting just a single bill for your TV, internet, and home phone services, you often get a discounted rate for internet service when it’s part of this type of package. If you de-bundle broadband from TV, you’re likely to find that you’re paying more for the same level of internet speed.

Also, one of the great things about cable TV is that it provides consistent, reliable signals to your TV set—you turn on your TV and expect to get a picture. Streaming services aren’t always like that, as many of us found out recently during hurricane season, when internet service remained down even after power had been restored. If you relied solely on streaming, you were out of luck. In my neighborhood in the Northeast, for example, FiOS broadband service was out for two days, while some Optimum internet customers had no service for five days.

Also, with streaming the quality of the video you get depends on the available bandwidth, which can vary with the number of users in your neighborhood who are on the same connection you’re using. So you may get a great picture late in the evening or early morning but find that it isn’t quite as good right after dinner, when more people are watching. Companies such as Netflix will dynamically adjust the quality of the video based on the speed of your connection, and they may downgrade the quality of the video to avoid it freezing or pixelating.

Also, with more of us now at home for both work and school, as well as for entertainment, we're sharing our broadband connections and WiFi with more people for longer periods of the day. If you have lots of people in your home streaming content to a variety of devices at the same time, the quality is likely to suffer.

Even your wireless router can affect video performance. Older routers may be slower or use only one frequency band, which can lead to interference from baby monitors, cordless phones, and even microwaves. Newer dual-band routers have two bands—2.4 GHz and 5 GHz—to provide you with a second option. If there are dead zones in your home where WiFi doesn’t reach, routers that create a mesh network could help. A handful of routers now use the next generation of WiFi technology, called WiFi 6, that provide faster speeds and better coverage. But your devices will also have to support WiFi6 to take advantage of the new technology's benefits. Sometimes the problem is with the service itself or the networks’ servers. Many services have had periodic outages, including some high-profile ones, such as the CBS All Access and CBS Sports apps crashing for those using Roku devices during last year's Super Bowl. More recently, both Netflix and Hulu had temporary outages this spring, just as more people were staying home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

And it’s not just sporting events. Streaming services or network servers can get overwhelmed when a lot of people are trying to watch at the same time. On the day it launched last fall, Disney+ had problems throughout the day. This same issue has plagued HBO a few times, such as during high-profile episodes of “Game of Thrones” and “True Detective.”.....

Also not all the services are available on every streaming player or smart-TV platform. For example, right now neither HBO Max nor Peacock is available on the two biggest streaming media player platforms, Amazon Fire TV and Roku. To see these new services, you'll need an Apple TV or Google Chromecast.

Re: Ads for Discovery Plus

CelticCrafter — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 15:45:27 GMT

@Mom2Dogs wrote:
...anyone seen these ads? Looks like most programs will now be 'streamed'
Does this mean Discovery will no longer be available on Cable TV?

We currently have Spectrum and watch several different programs on Discovery....I did look on line and I get the 'feeling' we will be losing the channel. I guess I will have to call Spectrum to find out.

We think they will be doing away with being able to go on demand to watch. As much as I like most of the Discovery family of channels I am not paying them to watch.

Re: Ads for Discovery Plus

Nuttmeg — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 15:53:10 GMT

@Mom2Dogs wrote:
Thanks...I hope Discovery does not leave Spectrum...even tho we pay $210.00/month...internet, cable and landline....and have many channels we watch about 10..... with Discovery being one of them.

@Mom2Dogs

You will not lose your Discovery channels with Spectrum cable.

This is an add on service like Disney+. The company is putting all content in one app and charging money. This is for cord cutters.

I have Verizon wireless and may get 6 months free. Last November VZW give some customers Disney+, and now it's included wirh service.

Re: Ads for Discovery Plus

Nuttmeg — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 23:32:03 GMT

@Spurt

This is a great article. The cables companies are putting themselves out of business by continuing to raise prices . How much can a person be expected to pay for service?

I would not have any problem cutting the cord. I really don't watch TV. I stream everything.

LOL, that day is coming soon. It would depend how much it will cost for the content, I like.

Re: Ads for Discovery Plus

songbird — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 16:42:24 GMT

Some of the shows aren't that great. I like the Crime shows as well as anybody, but they boring sometimes. And I especially dislike Disappeared, Unsolved Mysteries, etc. Those shows have no resolution at the end. Also annoying are the Nature ones, which don't have a lot research and science behind them. More for titillating then anything else. Those absurd summer Shark documentaries for example. I'm assuming this new streaming will be without ads? I would hope so. The ads on this network are short, but endless.

Re: Ads for Discovery Plus

CelticCrafter — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 17:16:47 GMT

@songbird wrote:
Some of the shows aren't that great. I like the Crime shows as well as anybody, but they boring sometimes. And I especially dislike Disappeared, Unsolved Mysteries, etc. Those shows have no resolution at the end. Also annoying are the Nature ones, which don't have a lot research and science behind them. More for titillating then anything else. Those absurd summer Shark documentaries for example. I'm assuming this new streaming will be without ads? I would hope so. The ads on this network are short, but endless.

@songbird what I could find is $4.99 with ads, $9.99 without ads. It's not only the ID channel, it's all the channels in the Discovery network, like Food Network, HGTV, TLC, etc.

By the time someone that cut the cord pays for all the streaming services they want they might as well go back to cable.

Re: Ads for Discovery Plus

red&curly — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 17:58:55 GMT

@CelticCrafter I'm thinking along those lines too.We just signed up for 2 free wks if YouTube tv.Got the date on calendar if need to cancel. It has hubby's sports which is most important. It's $65 a month.Some say it went up after few months.

We have to keep Spectrum internet to stream which iS

$70.Haven't cancelled cable yet but it went up to $212 .

Increase of $13. Must be off one of those special deals.Can't never get thru to them.

Told hubby we gonna have to do something before it comes due again.

Just give me Andy G. alk the time and I'm fine .I can get what I want on Roku or Fire stick.

Re: Ads for Discovery Plus

mspatmac — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 19:05:03 GMT

Now television is almost as confusing as smart phones and computers 😱 But we'll figure it all out just like we have with phones, tablets and social media.

Re: Ads for Discovery Plus

Nuttmeg — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 22:26:25 GMT

@mspatmac wrote:
Now television is almost as confusing as smart phones and computers 😱 But we'll figure it all out just like we have with phones, tablets and social media.

There is so much to watch.

Re: Ads for Discovery Plus

Porcelain — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 23:23:18 GMT

I cut the cord for a while back. Cable and satellite tv are just too dark for me. Lots of really creepy crime shows and fake conspiracy shows. And if you flip through channels or leave on a movie channel for long enough eventually you'll have a horror movie murderer jumping at you.

I have no reason to go back to it. I would not be interested in Discovery anything. They left behind their original interesting educational programing a long time ago, as have many cable channels. I remember when watching the History channel and Arts And Entertainment and Bravo was a pleasant experience that didn't involve nazis millionaires or aliens.

Ala carte streaming isn't just about saving money. It's about on demand access to the fun upbeat shows I actually enjoy. Like British Baking, Korean dramas, Ru Paul's Drag Race, Top Chef, classic movies, romantic comedies, Are You Being Served, American Ninja Warrior. That's not even getting into DH's penchant for political dramas and space operas.

On cable I was stuck with seemingly hundreds of channels of unwatchable dreck and I really disliked it. I also did not feel comfortable funding channels whose entire ethos I found repugnant.