ViacomCBS has picked out March 4, 2021 as the U.S. launch date for Paramount+, its expanded and rebranded version of the CBS All Access streaming service.
The company also plans to launch Paramount+ in some Latin American markets on March 4, followed by the Nordics on March 25 and Australia in mid-2021. The CBS All Access service in Canada will be rebranded to Paramount+ on March 4 but the expanded offering won’t be available until later this year.
Along with its fourth quarter and full year results on Feb. 24, ViacomCBS will host an investor event where it said it will “deliver a comprehensive overview of the company’s streaming strategy, including Paramount+, Pluto TV, and Showtime OTT.”
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“Paramount is an iconic and storied brand beloved by consumers all over the world, and it is synonymous with quality, integrity and world-class storytelling,” said ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish in an earlier statement. “With Paramount+, we’re excited to establish one global streaming brand in the broad-pay segment that will draw on the sheer breadth and depth of the ViacomCBS portfolio to offer an extraordinary collection of content for everyone to enjoy.”
ViacomCBS is planning Paramount+ original content including “The Offer,” a scripted limited event series producer Al Ruddy’s experiences of making “The Godfather,” and “Kamp Koral,” a new original children’s series from Nickelodeon’s “Spongebob Squarepants.” The service will also carry over All Access's expanded library.
The company has yet to reveal pricing for Paramount+. Current pricing for CBS All Access starts at $5.99 per month with limited commercials and tops out at $9.99 per month for commercial free.
While CBS All Access gets a makeover, Showtime OTT will continue largely unchanged and will remain a separate service from Paramount+. In September, Bakish told the Wall Street Journal that Showtime OTT is “strong enough to stand on its own.”
ViacomCBS said that CBS All Access and Showtime OTT closed out the third quarter with 17.9 million streaming subscribers combined, up 72% year over year and nearly past the subscriber goal the company had set for the end of 2020.