Are you among those upset that your favorite paranormal travel channel shows are on discovery+? I’ve gotten a couple of comments about that on posts I’ve shared with new discovery+ show info. The latest of which was about a new series hitting the streamer on April 17, Ghost Brothers: Lights Out.
William Uchtman wanted to know (and rightly so): “What the hell is with all these shows going to Discovery+?? It’s almost as if Discovery is sending a big ‘F You!’ to everyone who watches their shows!”
William is not alone in that feeling.
As Screen Rant reported, Discovery earned “the frustration of Travel Channel viewers” when they announced earlier this year that new content, like the super popular Ghost Adventures, would premiere on the streamer first. And now that it’s happening, those who didn’t see that announcement are left confused and not too happy.
What does all this mean for the fate of cable and satellite subscribers? Let’s take a look.
Will my favorite paranormal Travel Channel shows always air on discovery+ first?
As The TV Answer Man reported, Discovery CEO David Zaslav termed the decision to offer discovery+ episodes exclusively on the streamer first as an “experiment” right now.
There’s no indication how long the experiment will last, or if it will become their permanent modus operandi, but lots of people on social media are hoping the streamer will fail entirely because then their shows would resume “as normal.”
Could discovery+ fail and then all shows will be back on cable?
The bad news is, even though some have resisted subscribing to Discovery’s new streamer, Variety reported discovery+’s debut has gone very well, with 11 million subscribers signed on by February and 12 million expected to have signed up by the first of March.
Some Discovery brand channel fans worry their favorite channels, like TLC, HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, etc., might disappear from their cable or satellite providers if people stop watching them in favor of streaming them on discovery+.
That’s a valid fear because we’ve all seen providers pull certain channels.
As The TV Answer Man reported Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen saying, “…Discovery’s decision to sell its programming directly to consumers, and bypassing the cable and satellite audiences, could ultimately lead to pay TV operators deciding not to carry their channels.”
Ergen further went on to say, “But obviously, to the extent that you can get it on a la carte basis, it will affect future negotiations. Because if our customers — some of our customers don’t watch Discovery. A lot of our customers don’t watch Discovery, should we burden every customer with Discovery if they can get it somewhere else? (It) has to be a fair rate that we can burden customers who don’t watch it and you have to run that math.”
On the flip side, as The TV Answer Man also pointed out, Discovery may be forced to “beef up” its programming on regular channels “to avoid carriage blackouts.” If that happens, new episodes of highly-rated shows would return to the traditional channels.
For now, it’s one of those “hurry up and wait” sort of things to see which way Discovery decides works best.
discovery+ Shows Will Air on Travel Channel
The good news, according to Screen Rant, is that whatever premieres on discovery+ will make its way to Travel Channel. Eventually.
Again, it’s a matter of “hurry up and wait.”
What’s so great about discovery+ anyway?
I know a lot of people are digging in their heels and refusing to subscribe. They don’t like feeling “forced” to have to do it. And then there’s the matter that money is tight. Some are on fixed incomes and just don’t have the extra $5 a month plus tax to cough up.
I completely understand. There was an air of predictability with the old way. Also, if you liked tuning in to a certain show at a certain time and Tweeting about it with others as you all watched, that’s harder to do in this new landscape.
The last thing I wanted was another streamer myself. In my review of discovery+, I wondered if it was worth it. Even back in early January, when I’d barely had over a week to get to know it, I felt that it was.
Do I still feel the same way now having had a couple more months with it?
Absolutely!
The rule in our house is: “if something new comes in, something old goes out.” That’s why we got rid of one of our other pay channels when we decided to keep discovery+ after the 7-day free trial. We haven’t regretted it at all.
It’s now become the streamer my husband goes to first when he’s in the mood to watch TV. (Not for his favorite paranormal Travel Channel shows though. He doesn’t have any of those. He does enjoy Josh Gates though and some of the true-crime offerings, but he’s absolutely nuts about Undercover Billionaire.)
Even with the mega amount of content they offer, I think discovery+ is one of the easiest-to-navigate streamers we have. It’ll be interesting to see what happens and if they keep growing and keep premiering new shows on discovery+, or if they’ll go back to the old way.
Guess we’ll find out, right?
Check-In
Which of your favorite paranormal Travel Channel shows have you been most upset to see premiere on discovery+ first?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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I’m in the “not subscribing to Discovery+” camp at this point purely out of principle. I think it was really crappy the way they handled it. Sadly it’s taken all of my favorite paranormal shows with it. Sure it’s $5/month, which we can afford, but it’s the principle behind it and they’re spinning it like it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Not to mention, it’s not even available in all places yet so cable subscribers in other countries can’t even view it at all unless you’re savvy with VPNs. It also requires you have a robust and reliable internet connection to be able to stream these shows, which many in rural or remote areas don’t have. I’d feel different about it if the shows aired on the cable channels, say after a few weeks, giving first access and some kind of incentive to subscribe to D+. But making all new shows going forward exclusive to the streaming service really pulled the rug out from those of us who have followed these shows for years or decades. I was a faithful GA fan since 2009, and Paranormal Caught on Camera since the night it first aired and now can’t see anything new. It’s just one more payment and we’re already paying enough to watch TV, while this company is making us pay extra to watch what we were already paying for. We have varying tastes in our household, like my husband subscribes to various streaming services to watch sports for example. It has to stop somewhere. Right now at this point it feels like caving in to their greed if I break down and subscribe to it.
Well said! SO many people are not happy, but you really hit some issues I’d never heard of yet. Like how folks in rural access without reliable Internet wouldn’t benefit from streaming anyway. I totally understand why you put your foot down. I wonder if they’ll change anything going forward to appease loyal viewers or try to make it up to them somehow because that is their best base and it’s not really cool to double-dip on them. Again, well said! Thanks for sharing your perspective!