Discovery+ hiked prices in one of Skydance's first streaming moves since the merger

Kicking off its second week as a major public company, Skydance has raised the price of its standalone streaming service Discovery+. The basic, ad-supported tier now costs $6.99 per month, up $1, and the higher-end "ad-light" tier is $11.99, up $2. Skydance was formed from the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, which officially […]

Kicking off its second week as a major public company, Skydance has raised the price of its standalone streaming service Discovery+.

The basic, ad-supported tier now costs $6.99 per month, up $1, and the higher-end "ad-light" tier is $11.99, up $2.

Skydance was formed from the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, which officially closed last week. The new company has nearly $80 billion in debt and has pledged to reduce it and save $6 billion in costs. Along with back-end efficiencies, property sales and layoffs, higher broadcast rates are expected to accompany the recent inflation in the media sector. Related News News 'M+/HBO Originals': Movistar Plus & Skydance renew partnership News Who's in charge of Skydance International - at least for now

Discovery+, which features programming from a wide range of cable networks, has remained independent since its launch in 2021. Starting at $4.99 for the base tier and $6.99 for the plan with fewer ads, 50,000 hours of programming from networks like TLC, Discovery, Food Network. And HGTV offered. Watch on Deadline

After previous parent Discovery Communications merged with WarnerMedia in 2022, the new parent sought to combine Discovery+ with HBO Max, going so far as to rename the latter to Max to reflect the broader content. Audiences and partners objected to HBO's combination of premium fare with lifestyle and unscripted fare. Company bosses maintained Discovery+ as a lower-priced option for consumers. In part because the company doesn't order originals for Discovery+, it's been profitable for most of its existence.

HBO Max announced a round of price hikes last fall, with the basic ad tier increasing by $1 to $10.99 per month and the popular Standard plan to $18.49.

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