Key Points
- Paramount is raising the price of its Paramount Plus streaming service in January.
- Executives justified the cost adjustment by citing Paramount’s investment in more premium sports, including UFC.
- Paramount Plus also offers live football and soccer games, and on-demand content from CBS.
Paramount is moving forward with a price increase on its core streaming service Paramount Plus that will have subscribers in the United States paying a bit more to access its catalog of shows, movies, news and sports.
Starting January 15, the cost of Paramount Plus Essentials is going up by $1, with streamers expected to shell out $9 per month for ad-supported access to Paramount’s library of content. Those who want live access to their local CBS station and content from Showtime will have to pay $14 per month for Paramount Plus with Showtime, which also removes most ad spots from its on-demand shows and movies.
For three years, Paramount executives have justified ongoing price adjustments by pointing to the value of the content offered on the streaming service, which is typically lower in cost than what competitors charge for their apps.
Following its merger with Skydance Media in August, Paramount might have different executives who now run the place — but, when it comes to price adjustments on streaming services, the thinking is very much the same.
David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount, said the forthcoming price adjustment in January will help the company recoup some of its investment in pursuing rights to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events, which are moving off ESPN’s cable networks at the start of the year.
Ellison said UFC, combined with events from Zuffa Boxing, will make Paramount Plus the “home for combat sports” over the next few years. That, coupled with Paramount’s ongoing investments in other sports like football game from the National Football League (NFL), the NCAA March Madness men’s basketball tournament and premium soccer from Europa League, La Liga, English Football League and UEFA Champions League, puts a lot of live athletic competitions in front of Paramount’s streaming subscribers.
Not all subscribers will have to pay the new rate for Paramount Plus: Members of Walmart’s retail subscription service Walmart Plus have free access to Paramount Plus Essentials and discounted access to Paramount Plus with Showtime, and customers of certain T-Mobile home Internet plans will soon have access to Paramount Plus Essentials at no extra cost.
More Stories
- Paramount to increase price of Paramount Plus this summer (June 2024)
- Price increases likely coming to Paramount Plus (November 2022)
- Exec confirms price increase coming to Paramount Plus (December 2022)
- Paramount reports flat revenue during Q3, streaming subscribers up
- Paramount keeps Jon Stewart at “Daily Show” through 2026
- Ellison wants to end HBO Max, merge it into Paramount Plus
