Discovery+ Sets Spinoff-Heavy Fall Slate to Build on Subscriber Growth

Seven months into its existence, Discovery Inc.’s all-purpose streamer Discovery+ is continuing its full-court press into originals with another round of programs aimed at catapulting off the company’s best-performing brands. Monday at the Television Critics Association’s annual summer press tour, held virtually this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the streaming service—which accounts for the majority of its company's 18 million direct-to-consumer global subscribers—reviewed its push into unscripted series ranging from dating shows and real-estate series to an expanded appetite for behind-the-scenes celebrity programming. Some of those series include a spinoff of the long-running Discovery series Naked and Afraid, which is being refashioned into a dating series, and a two-part documentary series following comedians and actors Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett during their six-city North America tour for their podcast SmartLess. “One of our priorities as we program Discovery+ is taking what Discovery is known for and mixing it up—in other words, putting the “plus” into Discovery+,” Lisa Holme, Discovery+’s group svp, content and commercial strategy, told reporters. Here’s How the Biggest Streaming Services Stack Up in Mid-2021 The SmartLess-centric series, which will arrive on the service in 2022, will join a growing line-up of celebrity-led unscripted fare that runs the Discovery content gamut, ranging from food series to real estate programming to behind-the-scenes documentaries. Actor Selma Blair is the center in an emotional, intimate documentary film about her experience being treated for multiple sclerosis. Called Introducing, Selma Blair, it will begin streaming Oct. 21 on the service, shortly after its Oct. 15 theatrical premiere. “I wanted examples. I wanted to feel like I wasn’t crazy,” said Blair, who told reporters that she is now in remission from the disease. Her aim, she said, was to show one person’s experience with the illness and treatment with honesty and clarity. “Everyone’s journey is their own, so I can only speak for myself,” she said. Also arriving on the service later this year is Kendra Sells Hollywood, a six-part docuseries following former Playboy Mansion resident Kendra Wilkinson as she looks to break into the luxury real estate business. From the Food Network brand will come a second season of Well Done With Sebastian Maniscalco, an unscripted series blending the comedian’s humor and his love for food. That series will return on Nov. 16. Mining Discovery's franchises for spinoffs Discovery+ continues to mine some of its best-performing franchises for spinoff potential. Arriving on the service on Aug. 22 is Naked and Afraid of Love, a reality dating series that serves as a re-imagination of the long-running survivalist series Naked and Afraid. The streamer is also pushing into true-crime—a staple of Discovery's ID network—with Curse of the Chippendales, a four-part true-crime docuseries following the wildly popular 1980s male striptease troupe The Chippendales through scandals, including a murder-for-hire plot and a global manhunt. From the TLC banner is the series The Program: Prison Detox, which follows one town’s attempt to tackle a drug epidemic through a 90-day drug rehabilitation program designed for drug-related convicted felons. That seven-episode series, which was filmed over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, arrives Aug. 25. “The series is raw, it’s emotional and it’s real,” said TLC president and general manager Howard Lee. The slate will accompany new programming from the Chip and Joanna Gaines-led Magnolia Network, which debuted digitally last month on Discovery+ and has already renewed eight series and greenlit three more, along with other new and returning series that have been previously announced for the streaming network. All of it is aimed at bulking up Discovery’s growing originals catalogue that the company is using to forge a spot in the streaming landscape, which is becoming more competitive as the market opportunity grows larger. Discovery's all-purpose Discovery+, along with Discovery’s other niche streamers, had 18 million total subscribers as of Aug. 3, and as the company shifts to a direct-to-consumer business, it is also looking to get advertisers acquainted to the service. Discovery+’s $4.99-a-month ad-supported tier is driving much of the company’s growing digital advertising business, Discovery CEO David Zaslav recently told investors; more than 800 advertisers so far have signed up to promote their wares and services on the platform. As Discovery+ bulks up its content line-up, there are still questions about how that line-up will fit into a new company blueprint resulting from the mega-merger between Discovery and AT&T-owned WarnerMedia. The companies expect to join forces within the year, but it’s unclear exactly how the resulting company—which will be named Warner Bros. Discovery—will combine its streaming assets under one roof.