What the business is
Media group that streams Paramount+, Showtime, BET+ and free service Pluto TV, plus owned TV networks and a film studio.
The bet
Local partnerships can scale Paramount+ internationally and keep Showtime as a separate, additive streamer inside the flagship.
How it started
CEO Bob Bakish had said Paramount+ was aiming for 100 million subscribers by 2024; the service already ran in 25 markets across Latin America, Canada, the Nordics and Australia.
What happened
Paramount+ added 6.8M subscribers in Q1 2022, but total sales fell 1% to $7.33B because the Super Bowl was on NBC, and net profit fell about 52% to $433M on streaming investment. Subscribers to Showtime, BET+ and Noggin fell.
How it ended up
On 3 May 2022 Paramount said Paramount+ would launch in the UK and South Korea in June, the latter as an exclusive bundle with TVING, and in India in 2023 with Viacom18. Showtime programming would also appear inside Paramount+, though the two streamers would stay separate.
What has to be true
Paramount named Paramount+ as its flagship and future, with a goal of 100 million subscribers by 2024.
Partners such as Sky, CJ ENM and Viacom18 offered distribution in new markets without launching alone.
Bakish said Paramount's mix of owned networks, studio and streaming gave it content for a broad range of viewers.
What can be applied
A smaller streamer can buy distribution in new markets by bundling with a local platform, but the same quarter showed streaming growth eating into profit.
Aftermath
As of 3 May 2022, Paramount+ was in 25 markets with launches set for the UK and South Korea in June and India in 2023. TechCrunch noted it was unknown how bundling Showtime into Paramount+ would affect subscriber totals.
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