ViacomCBS today officially launched its new bundle offering for Showtime and Paramount+ starting at less than $10 per month.
The streaming bundle is launching in the U.S. with special introductory prices – $9.99 per month for Showtime and the Paramount+ Essential plan (ad-supported with no local live CBS station feed) and $12.99 per month for Showtime and the Paramount+ Premium Plan.
The Paramount+ Essential plan retails for $4.99/month and the Premium plan normally costs $9.99/month, while Showtime streaming normally costs $10.99/month. So, the new bundles represent substantial discounts.
“This powerhouse bundle gives us the opportunity to connect ViacomCBS’ diverse and differentiated cross-genre content slate with even more consumers,” said Tom Ryan, president and chief executive officer for ViacomCBS Streaming, in a statement. “Paramount+ and Showtime are both experiencing tremendous growth and momentum, and we expect this competitively priced bundle to only further expand the reach of both services.”
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The new bundle is essentially the same as the CBS All Access and Showtime bundle that was previously available through Apple, which sold both services for $9.99 per month to Apple TV+ subscribers. That bundle offer ended in February prior to CBS All Access relaunching as Paramount+.
ViacomCBS saw its total streaming revenue creep ever so close to the $1 billion mark during the second quarter thanks to growth at Paramount+, Pluto TV and Showtime. The company’s streaming subscription revenue grew 82% year over year as added 6.5 million global streaming subscribers (led by Paramount+) to reach more than 42 million total by the end of the quarter.
Speaking at an investor conference last week, ViacomCBS CFO Naveen Chopra said Paramount+ and other streaming platforms helped generate 15% of his company's total revenue, a figure he expected to meaningfully increase in 2021. As a result, ViacomCBS expects to see its streaming content investment go up.
"During our investor day back in February, I think at that point, I indicated that we expected streaming content expense to exceed $5 billion by 2024. That's compared to about $1 billion in 2020," Chopra said. "This year, streaming content expense will be more than double what it was in 2020."