ViacomCBS launches streaming service Paramount+ offering breaking news, sports and entertainment
Global media and entertainment company ViacomCBS has launched Paramount+, the highly anticipated streaming service with an unparalleled content offering that bundles live sports, breaking news, and an expansive collection of exclusive new originals, hit series, marquee franchises and popular movies.
Featuring more than 30,000 episodes and countless films from ViacomCBS’ family of world-renowned brands and production studios, including BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and the Smithsonian Channel, Paramount+ is home to premium entertainment for the whole family.
Tom Ryan, President and Chief Executive Officer, ViacomCBS Streaming: “The launch of Paramount+, which builds on our legacy of innovation and superior storytelling, is a significant milestone for ViacomCBS that demonstrates our commitment to being a global leader in streaming. By combining fresh original content with live and on-demand programming and an established library of titles from world-class entertainment brands, we have created an unrivaled service that offers live sports, breaking news and entertainment for all audiences.”
Premiering today with the launch of the service is a slate of new originals, including The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, the first-ever all CGI SpongeBob motion picture event; Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years, a prequel series and the first-ever spinoff of SpongeBob SquarePants; MTV Documentary Films 76 Days, the Oscar Shortlisted documentary that looks at life in the earliest days of the COVID-19 crisis in Wuhan, China; For Heaven’s Sake, a docuseries blending comedy and crime for a unique take on uncovering the truth; The Real World Homecoming: New York, a reunion special with the original New York cast in the iconic NYC loft; 60 Minutes+, a new form of the flagship series that reveals the stories behind the news through original reporting and captivating interviews; and Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning out the News, the second season of the animated daily news satire series.
These titles join a growing slate of originals currently on the service exclusively, including The Good Fight, Why Women Kill, The Stand, Star Trek: Lower Decks, No Activity, Coyote and more.
Coming this Spring to Paramount+ is an extensive lineup of live sports including every UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League match, culminating with the UEFA Champions League Final on May 29; coverage of the 2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, featuring all of CBS’s games throughout the tournament highlighted by the National Championship game and Final Four with first-round coverage beginning on March 19; and CBS Sports’ coverage of The Masters.
The Paramount+ slate will also continue to expand with 36 exclusive originals coming to the service in 2021, including the following titles that will debut this spring: Rugrats, an all-new series featuring Nick’s iconic babies, back together with the original voice cast and an all-new CG animation style; No Activity, a half-hour police comedy that will transition from live action to animated for season four; and Behind the Music, the groundbreaking and prolific music documentary series returns with several new episodes and the best of the vault remastered.
Beginning late spring, the Paramount+ film library will grow to over 2,500 titles including recent hits from Paramount Pictures, such as Bumblebee, Crawl, Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Gemini Man, Like a Boss, Pet Sematary, Playing with Fire, Rocketman and Sonic the Hedgehog, as well as popular movies from MGM, such as Bill & Ted Face the Music, Skyfall, The Addams Family, Child’s Play and Valley Girl.
The reimagined service, built on the strong foundation of CBS All Access, features live linear programming, plus a deep and growing content portfolio that spans the best in scripted dramas, kids and family, sports, news, documentaries, comedy, music and reality.
ViacomCBS will bring Paramount+ to international markets with initial debuts in 18 Latin American countries and Canada today; the Nordics on March 25, 2021; and Australia with a rebrand and expansion of 10 All Access later this year.
With production capabilities across five continents, strong distribution agreements and local relationships and expertise around the world, Paramount+ will leverage ViacomCBS’ leading global reach — including the largest global broadcast footprint — to drive streaming growth and international expansion. ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI) will build on its momentum in prized formats, and as one of the top global producers of Spanish-language content, to bring exclusive series to market for fans of kids and family, scripted dramas, reality and more. Subscription prices will vary by market, but Paramount+ will be available to international audiences at a compelling price point.
How to Stream
Paramount+ has two pricing tiers available to U.S. subscribers that marry the best of live and on-demand programming.
The premium tier, at $9.99, is available now and combines live sports, including NFL games, soccer and more; breaking news through CBSN; CBS’ live linear feed; and commercial free, on-demand entertainment options spanning Paramount+ originals to the full suite of current and library shows and movies with 4K, HDR and Dolby Vision and mobile downloads. In June, Paramount+ will introduce a new ad-supported tier, at $4.99, that offers live NFL games, news and entertainment, but no longer includes local live CBS station programming. A $5.99 ad-supported tier, which includes live CBS programming, is available until June at which point only the $4.99 and $9.99 tiers will be offered to new subscribers.
All Paramount+ subscribers will have access to a seamless user interface, enhanced curation and discovery, cross-platform dynamic play functionality, personalized homepages, content categories and central hubs for ViacomCBS’ brands. Additionally, each subscription option will include parental control capabilities and up to 6 individual profiles.
Consumers can subscribe to Paramount+ online at ParamountPlus.com; via the Paramount+ app for iOS and Android; and across a wide number of platforms, including smart TVs, connected-TV devices, online, mobile, gaming consoles, and leading OTT providers.
Paramount+ will also be distributed on major platforms in local markets internationally. The new Paramount+ app will begin rolling out across platforms today.
