- Paramount Global will raise the price of its flagship streaming service, Paramount+.
- The option with Showtime will increase by $1 per month, while the Paramount+ essential package will increase by $2.
- The price increases come as the company’s trio of executives look to restructure the company after its latest merger opportunity with Skydance was stopped in its tracks.
Paramount Global is raising the price of its flagship streaming service as the company seeks to turn around its business.
The company announced Monday that it would increase the price of the Paramount+ with Showtime bundle by $1 to $12.99 per month, and that the price of its Paramount+ Essential option would increase by $2 to $7.99 per month for all new subscribers.
The price increase goes into effect on August 20 for new customers of both plans. Existing Paramount+ customers with Showtime will see the price increase applied starting September 20. Existing Paramount+ Essential customers – who don’t receive Showtime content – will not pay more for their plans.
The price of the Paramount+ limited commercial option will also increase by $1 to $7.99 for current customers.
More media companies have raised streaming prices in an effort to make a profit on their loss-making businesses. Paramount executives have publicly stated several times that they see many opportunities to raise the price of streaming services.
Comcast’s NBCUniversal announced it would raise Peacock prices in July, ahead of the Summer Olympics, which will air exclusively on the NBC broadcast network and Peacock. This will be Peacock’s second price increase in the past year.
Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that it will increase the cost of its Max streaming service.
Paramount combined the Showtime and Paramount+ platforms last year in an effort to condense content spending, which has become a particular priority for media companies. The company also raised prices for Paramount+ late last year.
Paramount said in April that it added 3.7 million Paramount+ subscribers during the first quarter, bringing the total to 71 million. However, like most of its media peers, Paramount has seen losses related to its streaming service. The company said losses narrowed to $286 million, compared to losses of $511 million in the same quarter last year.
The price increase comes after National Amusements earlier this month halted discussions with Skydance over a proposed merger with Paramount. National Amusements, which is owned by Shari Redstone, Paramount’s majority shareholder, previously agreed to the economic terms of a merger with a consortium including David Ellison’s Skydance, before ending negotiations.
The company is now led by a trio of executives, called the “Office of the CEO,” consisting of CBS CEO George Cheeks, Paramount Media Networks CEO Chris McCarthy, and Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins.
The three executives recently outlined their plan to turnaround the company at Paramount’s annual shareholder meeting, in case the Skydance deal doesn’t go through.
Strategic priorities – aimed at reducing Paramount’s debt – included exploring streaming joint venture opportunities with other media companies and eliminating $500 million in costs, as well as divesting assets non-essential.
The trio said they will reveal other projects during Paramount’s earnings report in August.
— Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.
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