Discovery iPhone App an Early Hit

Written by Ryan Lawler

Wednesday, August 19. 2009 at 05:20 PM EDT Post a comment

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Discovery Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK)'s release of a new, free application for iPhone and iPod Touch users has fast become a success.

After just one day in Apple's App Store, the Discovery Channel app has received more than 180,000 downloads, making it the third-most downloaded free app in today's Top 25. The app is also No. 2 in the Entertainment section, right behind iGlowStick. [Ed. note: And it's difficult to beat the value that iGlowStick provides.]

Rebecca Glashow, senior vice president of digital media distribution at Discovery, says the decision to build an iPhone app was a "no-brainer," given the platform's reach.

But because Discovery is platform-agnostic, Glashow says that it could build similar apps for other mobile platforms, such as Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)'s Android or Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; Toronto: RIM)'s Blackberry. After all, she says the company's strategy "is to have as many touch points to our fans as possible."

While Apple makes it easy for developers to put a price tag on their apps, Discovery decided to make the app free to download but ad supported. The ads that appear along with the videos are a mix of Discovery launch sponsors and spots sold through Rhythm NewMedia's mobile ad network.

"This is our first app for one of our networks, and we wanted to give access to as many people as possible," Glashow says. "This is the best way to connect with the largest number of consumers ads possible."

That said, Discovery Communications could look to add more apps for its network sites, including TLC and Animal Planet -- and it is considering a mix of ad-supported and premium apps to be developed in the future.