Paramount+ to Raise Subscription Price

Paramount+ subscribers better get their bank accounts ready for increased prices. Deadline reports that Paramount Global's CFO has announced a raise in their subscription price due to the acquisition of Showtime into Paramount+ and a restructuring to accommodate it. The rebranded Paramount+ with Showtime will go from $9.99 to $11.99 a month; the  Paramount+ essential tier, sans Showtime, will increase from $4.99 to $5.99. The increase will help the streaming platform reach its to curb financial losses in 2023.  Additionally, adding Showtime helps a ton, with an anticipated $700 million in future annual expense savings.

"A single service requires less content to acquire and retain subscribers than two independent services," Naveen Chopra said. Showtime is considered a good investment due to its franchises and its loyal fanbase. He added: "The integrated product will be more engaging for consumers."

The acquisition will merge Showtime's cable network content with Paramount+ in streaming and linear. The rollout is expected to happen in this year's fourth quarter. Layoffs have also taken effect since the acquisition. 

Paramount+ reported 56 million subscribers in Q4 of 2022. That's an increase of 9.9 million. 

The original service was first launched in 2014 as CBS All Access, which focused on live streaming of CBS programming from its local affiliates, and on-demand access to CBS programs and archival content. An expansion occurred in 2016.

In Nov. 2019, CBS merged with Viacom to form ViacomCBS with content from Viacom-owned networks like MTV, BET, VH1, and Nickelodeon. It's since been rebranded as Paramount Global, with the streaming portion as Paramount+ in 2021, taking its name from the Paramount Pictures film studio.