Paramount has officially rolled out its integration of Paramount+ and Showtime for $11.99 per month.
The new offering will see Paramount’s collection of new originals, hit series and major franchises from its brands and production studios like Paramount Pictures, CBS, Comedy Central, BET, MTV, Nickelodeon and the Smithsonian Channel be combined with newly added Showtime content.
That means Showtime successes like “Yellowjackets,” “Billions,” “Dexter,” “Penny Dreadful,” “Your Honor,” “The Chi,” and upcoming titles like “Fellow Travelers” will sit alongside the “Star Trek” and Taylor Sheridan universes along with shows like “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “NCIS” as well as hit Paramount films like “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” and “Scream VI”.
As a result of the inclusion, the top tier of Paramount+ will now increase from $9.99 per month to $11.99 per month. The cheaper, ad-supported Essentials tier, which will not include Showtime, has increased to $5.99 from $4.99 per month.
Consumers who already pay for the Paramount+/Showtime bundle are not be affected by the price increase, and existing Premium subscribers will automatically receive access to the new rebranded plan.
The Showtime linear channel will be rebranded to Paramount+ with Showtime in the future. Showtime’s standalone app will also be shut down by the end of 2023.
Internationally, Showtime content is already included on Paramount+ and thus will be unaffected. As of the end of its latest quarter, Paramount Global reported a total of 60 million Paramount+ subscribers globally.
The change comes as Paramount+ has scrapped more titles from its service, purging various programming, including a number of original series, original movies and Nickelodeon content, in time for the new incarnation of the service.
Comedy series “Inside Amy Schumer”, the original anthology drama “Tell Me a Story,” the docuseries “From Cradle to Stage” & “Ghislaine: Partner in Crime,” and the films “Snow Day” and “Fantasy Football” have all been pulled.
They join the likes of “Star Trek: Prodigy,” “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies,” “Queen of the Universe” and “The Game” which were pulled from the service this week, just days after it was revealed Paramount+ was going to remove them.
Source: The Wrap
