Paramount+ With Showtime launched this week. We put into context what the end of a decades-old, standalone premium TV brand means in today’s streaming market.
Top News Stories (1:30)
Paramount Global folds Showtime into Paramount+ (8:20)
This week, Paramount Global launched Paramount+ with Showtime and announced it would increase prices for both tiers of service. The least expensive ad-supported tier, Paramount+ Essentials, is increasing by $1 monthly to $5.99. However, the ad-free tier, Paramount+ Premium, is seeing a price increase of $2 to $11.99.
The justification for the bigger increase in the Premium tier seems to be the inclusion of Showtime content. The name of the tier has also been changed to Paramount+ with Showtime to emphasize the point. However, since there are only two tiers, people wishing to watch ad-free are stuck paying $2 more regardless of their interest in Showtime content. The net result for Paramount+ subscribers is that the penalty they pay to watch ad-free has increased from $5 a month to $6.
How the Showtime content is presented in the interface (10:20)
Oddly, the Showtime brand is not included in the Brand carousel
Paramount+ surfaces the Showtime content in three ways:
- Individual titles are promoted in the hero bar at the top of the screen
- There is a Showtime TV show carousel
- There is a Showtime Movie carousel.
There is also a carousel for Paramount Global brands, including CBS, BET, and Comedy Central, but the Showtime brand is not included.
How Showtime helps Paramount+ upper tier be more premium (14:30)
Will thinks charging $2 to access the Showtime library is too little.
Showtime’s brand doesn’t carry the same cache as it did with cable (17:50)
Showtime’s hallmark edgy content and newer movie library doesn’t carry the same weight as they did in the cable TV world.
SVOD services are charging a lot more for ad-free viewing (22:10)
SVOD providers are increasing the cost penalty people must pay to watch ad-free. It costs $8.50 a month more to watch ad-free with Netflix, $7 more on Hulu, and $5 more on Paramount+. The majority of SVOD users want to watch ad-free. Continuing to boost the penalty for watching ad-free could anger customers resulting in cancellations.
