Discovery Plus subscribers may occasionally encounter an issue where they are unable to access the service and are presented with a ‘Discovery plus not available in this location’ or a “streaming access is available only when you are located in the U.S. and certain U.S. territories” warning message. While there could be more than one reason for this happening, the issue does come down to location.
With TV shows and movies from a variety of popular networks available through the one subscription, Discovery+ can be a useful addition to a home’s streaming setup. Of course, the service is not without its issues and there are times when consumers may encounter problems. This is not only for those signing up for the first time, but also those that have an existing subscription. The ‘Discovery+ is not available in this location’ error is one such example.
Similar to many other streaming services, Discovery Plus is only available in select regions. For those in the United States, this means the service can only be streamed in the United States including American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Attempting to watch content through the app or the Discovery+ website outside of these areas will result in the user being presented with the warning message. Of course, most subscribers are likely to be accessing the service in a supported region, resulting in the warning being incorrectly shown.
Location is the issue
Put simply, location is the issue. If the user is in a supported location, then the location that Paramount+ thinks they are in is the problem. However, figuring out why Discovery+ thinks they are somewhere else is not always so simple. One of the very first things to check is whether the service can be streamed on other devices. For example, if attempting to stream Discovery+ on a smart TV, then try via a streaming player. Better still, a smartphone. If the same warning is presented on the other devices, then the issue isn’t with the original device.
Again, a smartphone is likely to be the better option to check. The reason is that, if the warning does show on a smartphone, the user can also disable the Wi-Fi internet temporarily and check again with a mobile cellular connection—keeping in mind this will use data and charges might apply—and this can help to rule out issues with the internet connection. As an example, if able to access Discovery+ when using mobile data but not over Wi-Fi, then it seems likely the Wi-Fi network is causing the issue and signaling that the user is in a different location than where they actually are. If the problem persists on both Wi-Fi and mobile, and across multiple devices, then the problem is more likely to be with Discovery+, and possibly something that will be fixed by the service in due course.
If using a VPN, then this could be why the issue is happening over Wi-Fi, and even on multiple devices. Disabling any VPN or asking others if they’ve enabled a VPN on the same network could help to fix the problem. If no VPN is in use, and the problem still occurs on all devices connected to the same network (but not on other networks, such as a mobile connection), the consumer may need to reach out to their ISP for help.
If only on one device
For some users, the warning message might only be encountered on the one device. As mentioned, the easiest way to check this is to actually download the Discovery+ app on another device and see if it works. If the app works fine on other devices connected to the same network, then it would seem that the problem is with the original device. One of the first things to do in this situation is close the app, clear the cache, and launch the app again. If the problem is still there, try uninstalling the app and reinstalling it, as the fresh version may send a clearer signal to Discovery+ on the user’s real location.
If the warning message continues to be present after restarting and even reinstalling the Discovery+ app, then it may be worth actually checking the device’s settings. Most smart devices come with their own dedicated settings menu where the user can make subtle but impactful changes, including to the location. Making changes to any of the language and location settings could affect how the device communicates with services like Discovery+ and the location information that’s sent.
The actual method of checking and changing these settings will vary by device, but making sure the language and location (or region) is set to indicate that the user is located in the United States could help to solve issues like geolocation warnings. It is worth noting that after making these changes, it might be worth closing the app, clearing the cache, and launching it again just to make sure that the changes to language and location have actually taken effect.
Discovery+ not available summary
There can be a number of reasons why Discovery+ subscribers are seeing a ‘Discovery Plus not available in this location’ warning message, but they all tend to come down to the location. If in a location where the service is not currently supported, subscribers will see the message and will be unable to stream episodes and movies. If in a supported area but still seeing the warning message, then Discovery+ thinks the user is currently in an unsupported location.
To fix the problem, the user will need to figure out where in the chain the wrong location information is being sent to Discovery+. This includes checking to make sure there are no issues with the internet connection relaying the wrong location information, such as when using a VPN, or whether the device’s settings have been set up for a different location and region. In some cases, the problem may simply be an error at the Discovery Plus app level, with a quick reset or reinstall possibly fixing the issue.
Leave a Reply