Zak Bagans, ‘Ghost Adventures’ to help launch streaming service

The Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles had long been on Zak Bagans’ bucket list.

The downtown landmark, once home to the “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez, inspired “American Horror Story: Hotel.”

So when Bagans’ “Ghost Adventures” was given the green light for the first televised paranormal investigation of the site, it was always going to be a big deal. That two-hour special, “Ghost Adventures: Cecil Hotel,” is being used to help launch the Discovery+ streaming service.

“It doesn’t get bigger and more sinister than this,” Bagans said in a statement. “We’ve been trying to get inside these rooms for more than a decade, so this is really a big deal — the first-ever paranormal investigation in the Cecil Hotel. It has a dark history and reputation, and it’s one of the heaviest places we’ve ever been in.”

Discovery+ will debut Jan. 4 with the “Ghost Adventures” special, along with more than 50 original titles and over 150 hours of exclusive content. The service also will pull from various channels, including A&E, Lifetime, TLC, History, Animal Planet, Food Network, Travel Channel and HGTV.

Plans start at $4.99 a month.

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567. Follow @life_onthecouch on Twitter.