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Paramount Plus, an American subscription video-on-demand service owned by Paramount Global, reportedly announced this week that it is raising its monthly subscription rates. The price hike is set to be implemented later this year with no exact date mentioned as of this time.
It was reported that Paramount Plus said on Thursday, Feb. 16, that the price increase is part of its effort to balance out its losses. In particular, the video streaming providers’ “Premium” tier which is the “Paramount+ with Showtime” will see an increase of $2 thus the price will be $11.99 from $9.99.
The “Essential” tier does not have added Showtime programs and with ads, will be priced at $5.99 from $4.99. The company has yet to announce a specific timetable as to when the price hikes are taking effect.
The news of an increase in monthly subscriptions comes just two weeks after the executives of Paramount Global unveiled the Paramount+ with Showtime brand. This happened after they merged the TV network and streaming site to form one standalone entity.
“Today, we are announcing that we will be fully integrating Showtime into Paramount+ across both streaming and linear platforms later this year, providing even more popular franchises and hit originals for viewers to enjoy,” TV Line quoted Paramount’s chief executive officer, Bob Bakish, as saying in a statement last month. “To reflect this change, both our premium streaming tier on Paramount+ and the Showtime linear network will become Paramount+ With Showtime in the U.S.”
In any case, Bakish also commented about the company’s plan for a price hike. He said that while the company is facing good days ahead, it will cost the consumers. Yahoo Finance reported that Paramount missed estimates and hinted that the price increase is unavoidable. The company also said that streaming losses will peak this year.
"We are at peak investment," Bakish said during the recent investor’s call. "Paramount+ is far from the industry price leader and we are on the value end of the pricing spectrum."
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