Discovery+ Hikes Prices Just One Week Into Its Skydance Era

Hollywood’s biggest shake-up in years is already starting to reach viewers’ wallets, and Discovery+ is the first streamer to feel it under its new owner, Skydance. On Tuesday, October 6, the company led by chairman and CEO David Ellison completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, uniting Paramount and Warner Bros. under one roof in a deal widely valued at around $110 billion.

The megamerger arrives 8 months after Paramount agreed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery in February, following a lengthy bidding battle with Netflix. The combined company brings together HBO Max, Paramount+, Discovery+ and the free ad-supported service Pluto TV, along with major studios and news networks like CBS and CNN.

Now, barely a week later, Discovery+ is raising its prices for U.S. customers. The ad-supported plan is going up by $1 to $6.99 per month, while the ad-free plan jumps by $2 to $11.99 per month.

The new rates apply immediately to new subscribers as of Tuesday, October 13. Existing customers will get 30 days’ advance notice, with the updated prices showing up on billing statements on or after November 12.

The timing has certainly raised eyebrows, though there may be more to the story. Several outlets noted that the price change was likely already in the works before Skydance took over, simply because of the logistics involved in rolling out new pricing.

That hasn’t stopped some sharp criticism. The A.V. Club slammed the move as an early sign of what customers can expect, arguing that the company’s heavy post-merger debt load will likely push more price increases across the board.

For those wondering whether the service is worth the extra cash, Discovery+ is the streaming home for programming from HGTV, Food Network, TLC, ID, Discovery, Animal Planet, and Magnolia Network. A portion of that content is also available on HBO Max, which could factor into some subscribers’ decisions.

The streamer recently added a curated channels feature that offers always-on streams grouped by theme, making it easier to browse its library of reality, documentary and lifestyle series. Fans of franchises like ’90 Day Fiancé’ and ‘Deadliest Catch’ will now be paying a little more to keep watching.

Discovery+ isn’t a small operation, either. As of August, research firm Antenna estimated the service had 4.9 million paying subscribers in the U.S., with roughly half of them on the ad-supported tier, and executives have previously called the streamer a profitable business.

Still, its long-term future remains unclear. At an October 7 press conference, Ellison and other executives laid out their vision for the merged company, but Discovery+ and its fate within the new empire weren’t mentioned at all.

Ellison has already outlined plans to eventually combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single streaming app. However, he hasn’t provided a launch date for that unified service or any details about how much it might cost.

When announcing the merger’s completion, Skydance said consumers can expect significant improvements to its direct-to-consumer streaming products, which will merge into a single service over time. Whether Discovery+ ultimately joins that combined offering or continues as a standalone service is still an open question.

For subscribers, the latest move is another reminder that streaming costs keep creeping upward as media giants consolidate. With a company this large now controlling so many major platforms, many viewers will be watching closely to see whether HBO Max and Paramount+ follow suit.

For now, the increase is modest, but it lands at a moment when many households are already reconsidering how many subscriptions they can justify. How Skydance handles pricing across its growing streaming portfolio could shape the industry for years.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!