Paramount+ led ViacomCBS to adding 9.4 million new global streaming subscribers during the fourth quarter to reach more than 56 million by the end of 2021.
Paramount+ accounted for 7.3 million of the new additions during the quarter and brought its total up to 32.8 million. Showtime OTT didn’t break out its subscriber numbers but said it had a record quarter for sign-ups and engagement thanks to “Dexter: New Blood” and “Yellowjackets.”
And later this year, SkyShowtime, a new streaming joint venture with ViacomCBS and Comcast, plans to launch in more than 20 European markets reaching a potential 90 million homes starting later this year.
During today’s investor event, CEO Bob Bakish said that his company’s subscriber growth has put it on pace to reach its 2024 goals by the end of 2022. ViacomCBS now expects to have 100 million total streaming subscribers by 2024, up from the 65 million to 75 million forecast it previously shared for that timeline.
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The company reported quarterly global streaming revenues of $1.3 billion, up 48% year over year, thanks to growth in subscription and advertising. That streaming advertising business is being led by Pluto TV, which added 10 million Pluto TV global monthly active users (MAUs) to reach over 64 million and grew its revenue by 45% annually.
"In the fourth quarter you saw the power of strategy and strength of execution across the company. Our success was evident across all lines of business, and spotlighted by streaming, where we achieved our best quarter ever in streaming subscription growth - more than doubling our subscriber additions from last quarter with a record 9.4M additions, expanding our total global streaming subscribers to over 56M,” said Bakish in a statement. “And, to top it off, we saw meaningful acceleration in our global Pluto TV MAUs, to reach over 64M and generate over $1 billion in revenue in the year. This sets us up well for 2022, where I'm tremendously excited to continue to build on this powerful momentum - investing in global content, distribution, and market expansion - to further drive scale."