TV Answer Man, I keep seeing commercials for Paramount+ which looks like some CBS thing, but I’m not sure. What is Paramount Plus and do you have to pay for it? I’m tired of paying for all these streaming services. — Jeannie, Abilene, Texas.
Jeannie, CBS All Access, the Viacom-owned streaming service that costs $5.99 a month, tomorrow will become Paramount+. But there’s a lot more changing than the name.
Paramount+ starts at $5.99 a month with a $9.99 a month package with no ads. (Paramount says it will offer a $4.99 a month plan in June, which will not have ads.). The service will feature programming from all of Viacom’s brands, including CBS, Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, BET and MTV.
In addition, the streamer will feature original programming (Star Trek shows, The Good Fight, and a new Frasier with Kelsey Grammer, for instance), and live sports and news as well as select Paramount-produced theatrical films 45 days after their release in the theaters. (Mission Impossible 7 and A Quiet Place, Pt. 2 are two films ticketed for Paramount+ six weeks after their theatrical release.)
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Viacom is hoping that the new branding, and expanded lineup, will give the service more value in the increasingly competitive streaming category.
“Paramount+ comes to the marketplace with real advantages that our competitors do not have,” Viacom CEO Bob Bakish told journalists last week in a three-hour presentation. “As you’ve seen from our marketing campaign, we have a mountain of entertainment. How big is that mountain? As you’ll see today, it’s a lot bigger than you think.”
Will Paramount+ succeed? As you note, Jeannie, consumers may be getting weary of having to subscribe to multiple streaming services to watch their favorite shows. There’s Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, Peacock, Discovery+, Disney+, ESPN+…the list just goes on and on. But Paramount+ does have an impressive roster, and at $5.99 a month, the price might be right.
If you’re not sure, the service is now offering a one-month free trial when it launches tomorrow. But if you order a year’s subscription today, you can get 50 percent off. (For instance, the $9.99 a month plan would be roughly $60 for the full year.) To learn more, click here.
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvpredictions.com. Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
… programming from all of Viacom’s brands, including CBS, Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, BET and MTV.
Is that some kind of JOKE??!!
All GARBAGE.
Why would anyone pay extra for that… and aren’t all those part of most live tv options from cable to live tv streaming???
Why pay again??
OH, I know, the “new” scam: take “popular” shows out of the lineup and put them behind a pay wall and charge again.
So… you pay for the channels in your cable/streaming package, and you pay again for the “good stuff” that has been moved out.
and amerikans fall for it.
Well, point is less and less people are “the channels in your cable/streaming package”. So if you like CBS stuff, or Yellowstone, or Viacom stuff it’s a great price. Unfortunately, these services are their future and they need to get people to sign up for them so using new exclusive shows to help boost users isn’t going away.
Thanks, for the info TV Answer Man! I had no idea about the deal, and ponied up for the half-off, ad-free year just now. I am guessing it’ll be for one-year only, but we’ll see.
Oh, and “c ag”— why are you ranting about it? The new “Star Trek” series, for instance, are not on CBS, and I look forward to seeing them. There are some other cool features too. The cost is reasonable in year one.
There isn’t much commenting on this site in general, but I’ve noticed a lot of it (particularly in the DirecTV stories) is angry. Relax folks: it’s television!
One option for those still on cable: if you want to watch these new shows that are only on the new service, just wait and sign up when the show is over. They are usually only 10 episodes or so long so wait 2-3 months. Then you pay for one month, watch them all in a week or two and then cancel.
Yep, that’s what I’m doing with Discovery+.
The annoying thing about Paramount+ is it’s all the channels that YoutubeTV added, then raised their price by $15 bucks!
AHA!, Ala Carte, cheaper??? I DON’T THINK SO!, This is exactly what happened to the big dishes back in the 90’s
Split everything up into small groups, make you pay separately…
I hope either Direct or Dish stays alive
Just wait until the internet services start putting a cap on data. They will have their hands out for more of your money if you exceed their data cap, and it will.
Agreed that it’s crappy that the internet companies started charging caps, at least Comcast does in my area. But even the slightly more I have to pay for unlimited is still way less than I used to pay for cable TV and internet.
It can definitely add up if you aren’t careful. I pay for several services related to streaming TV. But Netflix is the most expensive is the most expensive at $18 or so. Most of them are less than $10/mo. And in a couple of cases I only have them part of the year.
All together I’m at $40-50/mo, which is like a 1/3 of what I was paying for DirecTV. Plus, I get everything I want, way more ability to watch anything I want on any device I want, and whenever I decide to cancel/pause a service I can do so with a couple of clicks.
It’s all up to what’s important to people. But for me there’s no comparison.
Dont see 4k anywhere on here for Paramount+