At a time when streaming services are taking over the entertainment landscape, it appears they’re also evolving. Now in the footsteps of HBO Max announcing that it will soon merge with Discovery Plus – it looks like Paramount Plus will be taking a similar course of action with Showtime.
The report comes from WSJ, who writes:
Paramount Global is considering discontinuing its Showtime streaming service and shifting its content into Paramount+, according to people familiar with the situation, a move that would streamline the company’s offerings amid a crowd of competitors.
A Paramount Global spokesperson released the following statement:
“We are always exploring options to maximize the value of our content investment by giving consumers access to great Paramount content through an array of services and platforms.”
Last month, Paramount Global announced that Paramount Plus and Showtime will be available as a single streaming app. The new app, paired as a bundle titled “Paramount+ With Showtime,” will cost new subscribers $7.99 a month for their ad-supported tier and $12.99 for their ad-free tier. Furthermore, “current subscribers can upgrade to the bundle within their app.”
However, they also noted that “the introductory discount ends October 2.” At that point, “the bundle will cost $11.99 with ads or $14.99 without them.” Interestingly, however, if you don’t wish to purchase the bundle – you can still subscribe to either service separately.
As of right now, the Paramount Plus with Showtime deal means subscribers can still pay for Showtime on its own at $10.99 per month. As for subscribing to Paramount Plus on its own, that will cost $4.99 per month with ads or $9.99 for the ad-free tier. They also noted that “live fare, notably sports, is not part of the ad-free promise, and of course Showtime programming will not carry ads when it is viewed on the combined app.”
As such, this should add plenty of different options for those who rely on streaming for their entertainment needs. As the landscape continues to grow and develop, so too do these new streaming services. In fact, it was even suggested by Deadline that “Hulu will migrate to Disney+ once Disney gains full control of Hulu in 2024.”
So perhaps we should expect plenty of other changes like the merge between Paramount Plus and Showtime in the coming years. As always, stay tuned to ScreenGeek for additional updates as we have them.