ViacomCBS will lower the price of a subscription to the ad-supported version of its streaming service Paramount Plus early next month.
The move is consistent with a strategy laid out when the company relaunched CBS All Access under the Paramount Plus brand in March.
On June 7, ViacomCBS will reduce the cost of the ad-supported Paramount Plus subscription from $6 a month to $5 a month. The new package will be re-branded as “Paramount Plus Essentials” and will include the same library of content as the commercial-free tier, which costs $10 a month.
One notable difference between the two plans: The cheaper, ad-supported tier will no longer include access to live CBS programming carried by local stations and affiliates. This means customers who opt for the cheaper plan won’t be able to stream local news or live sports, including future telecasts of the National Football League, professional golf, college football and college basketball games.
Current customers who subscribe to the $6 a month plan with ads will be grandfathered in and won’t be affected by the change as long as they do not cancel their subscription, ViacomCBS said. That grandfathered plan will continue to include access to a live stream of their local CBS station.
Those who want to lock in access to their local CBS station via Paramount Plus at the cheapest rate should sign up for a Paramount Plus subscription before the change takes effect on June 7.
