Yahoo Finance Paramount+ Prices to Increase for Most Subscribers Starting This August
As Paramount Global looks to push its streaming business into the black, it’s hiking the prices for most Paramount+ plans later this summer.
The price of the ad-free Paramount+ With Showtime plan will increase by $1, to $12.99 per month. The Paramount+ Essential plan (with ads) will increase by $2, to $7.99 per month for all new subscribers. The new pricing will be effective starting Aug. 20 for all new Paramount+ customers.
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For existing Paramount+ With Showtime subscribers, the new price will go into effect with their next billing date on or after Sept. 20. Existing monthly subscribers to Paramount+ Essential will continue to receive their subscription at the current price of $5.99 — and pricing of annual subscription plans for both tiers will remain unchanged (Paramount+ With Showtime is $119.99/year; Paramount+ Essential is $59.99/year), according to the company. Meanwhile, current subscribers with the legacy Paramount+ Limited Commercial plan will see their price increase by $1, to $7.99 per month.
The price hikes come after Paramount Global’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, called off talks about merging the company with David Ellison’s Skydance Media earlier this month.
At this point, Paramount Global is looking for a strategic partner for Paramount+ to scale up the service and gain efficiencies, according to Chris McCarthy, head of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios, one of the three co-CEOs currently leading the company. At Paramount Global’s June 4 shareholder meeting, McCarthy said the company is “working on exploring options with both SVOD players and the leading technology platforms with the goal of forming a joint venture or a long-term strategic partnership to maximize our momentum and take advantage of our combined strengths.” Paramount has discussed merging Paramount+ with NBCUniversal’s Peacock in the past.
The new price of Paramount+ With Showtime is still below that of the ad-free versions of Netflix, Disney+ and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max. Earlier this month, WBD increased the price of Max’s no-ads plans in the U.S. while the price of NBCUniversal’s Peacock tiers are going up in July for new subscribers (just ahead of the Paris Summer Olympic Games).
Paramount Global launched the integrated Paramount+ With Showtime service in the U.S. in June 2023, which superseded the now-defunct stand-alone Showtime streaming service.
During the first quarter of 2024, Paramount+ gained 3.7 million net subscribers, helped by CBS’s telecast of the Super Bowl carried on the streaming platform, to stand at more than 71 million total. But it’s still losing millions: Revenue from the company’s streaming businesses rose 24% to $1.88 billion and the direct-to-consumer division cut operating losses by 44%, to $286 million. The company has told Wall Street it expects the streaming biz to achieve profitability in the U.S. by the end of 2025.
In announcing the price increases Monday, the company touted Paramount+’s “expansive slate of live sports, breaking news and premium originals.”
Original series on Paramount+ With Showtime include “Mayor of Kingstown,” “The Chi,” “Lawmen: Bass Reeves,” “Knuckles,” “Fellow Travelers,” “Yellowjackets” and “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” Movies on the service include “Bob Marley: One Love,” “Mean Girls,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.” Starting this fall, the service will also see the return of the NFL on CBS, as well as originals such as “Landman,” “Tulsa King,” “Dexter: Original Sin,” “School Spirits,” “Frasier” and “Lioness.”
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