Paramount Has Integrated Showtime Into One App - Paramount+
As of August 31st, Paramount+ and Showtime have now combined into the Paramount+ app.
Paramount+ with Showtime, as Paramount has afffectionally referred to the bundling of the two services, is available to new subscribers at $7.99/month for the Essential tier, which includes ads, and $12.99/month for the ad-free tier, which Paramount is refferring to as the Premium tier. If you're a current subscriber, you can upgrade within the app for the same prices.
After this discount ends on October 2nd, the bundle will increase to $11.99 for the Essential (ad-supported) tier, and $14.99 for the Premium (ad-free) tier. Subscribers who would rather keep their Showtime subscription seperate from their Paramount+ subscription will be able to subscribe at a rate of $10.99/month through Showtime and Paramount+, as well as through the third-party distriobutors that the two are currently offfered through. Vice versa, those who want Paramount+ and not Showtime can continue paying $4.99/month with ads or $9.99/month without them. However, live programming like sports will not be included, and Showtime programming will not feature adds in the Paramount+ app.
At the time of the announcement, Paramount stated that Paramount+ added 4.9 million subscribers in their second financial quarter, which ended on June 30th. The increase in subscribers makes Paramount+'s subscriber count 43.3 million overall, with Paramount's total subscriber count 64 million with Showtime added to Paramount+. As of now, Paramount+ is planned to be available in 60 global regions by the end of this year. Outside of the United States, select Showtime programs have already made their way to Paramount+.
When announcing the merged bundle, Paramount had the following to say:
“The Paramount+ with Showtime bundle offers consumers unprecedented value by providing one of the broadest content libraries in streaming at one of the lowest prices in the marketplace. This singular user experience streamlines sign-up and enhances discovery, and this lower price will allow more households to enjoy this exceptional combined entertainment offering.”
-- Tom Ryan, president and chief executive officer of Paramount Global Streaming
This combination of services comes hot off the heels of Warner Bros. Discovery's announcement that HBO Max and Discovery+ will sooon be combined into a single app. A notable bundle that isn't integrated is Disney's "Disney Bundle", which offers Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu with seperate apps for each service, but is expected to migrate to Disney+ in 2024, when Disney buys the remaining shares of Hulu from Comcast.
My Take
As a Paramount+ subscriber myself, this is exactly what I've been waiting for. Too often, I'd find myself wishing for an easy way to watch A24 films, which are Showtime exclusives, so I can't wait to see how it all gels together.
That said, the introductory discouunt has me cautious. $12.99/month right now is fine, but $14.99/month is getting into dangerous territory. It's only a $2/month increase, but with other streaming services vying for my attention like AMC+, Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, MUBI, Netflix, Peacock, and Prime Video, all ranging from $4.99/month to $12.99/month, it adds up.
Hopefully, though, this consolidation of Paramount+ and Showtime helps to ease the ever-growing concern by the public that streaming services are becoming the new cable. After all, without out it, you'd be paying at least $15.99/month for the two seperately.
Until next time!
Thanks to Thomas Stoneham-Judge from Movies For Reel, Shane Conto, Joseph Davis, David Walters, Ambula Bula, Matthew Simpson, Thom Blackburn, Aaliyah, Libby Stephenson, and Roze for supporting Austin B Media on Patreon!
