Paramount+ Doesn’t Plan on Bundling Anytime Soon
By Movieguide® Contributor
As more streaming services look to bundle, Paramount+ chooses to remain solo.
In the company’s recent third-quarter earnings call, Chris McCarthy, co-CEO of the streamer, told the team, “We feel good about our position and our ability to remain a standalone.”
While other streamers are fighting to raise their viewership, Paramount + is doing well.
Deadline reported, “Streaming was a bright spot in Paramount’s quarter, with direct-to-consumer revenue climbing 10% and Paramount+ adding 3.5M subscribers to reach 72M, making it the fourth-largest global SVOD streamer.”
Although the company plans to stand alone as of now, it’s not completely ruled out the idea of joining forces with other streamers someday. McCarthy said, “You can absolutely count on us to be opportunistic. We’re looking at partnerships from a strategic lens to drive more value. And you can be sure that in deciding that, we’ll take key factors into consideration, but the ultimate value will be is this going to drive increased value for our business today, our consumers and our investors.”
“But as it stands today, we have our momentum driven by our strategy, our execution and driven by our hit content. And so we feel good about our position as a standalone and we’ll continue to look for opportunities,” he reiterated.
Next year, Skydance will join Paramount+ as a parent company. This would mean any future partnerships would need to include them in the decision.
Skydance Media’s acquisition of Paramount was approved on Sunday; the companies have since revealed their vision for a shared future.
The largest immediate impact that would come from the merger would be a $1.5 billion cash infusion to help the struggling studio stabilize, allowing top talent and creatives to feel comfortable signing onto new projects from the studio. Luring these high-quality individuals sits at the center of the company’s plan for the future.
READ MORE: HOW PARAMOUNT’S SKYDANCE MEDIA MERGER WILL SHAKE UP THE STUDIO
“[Paramount] will be a premier, creative-first destination for storytellers, dedicated to top-quality content and will be positioned to improve profitability, foster stability and independence for creators, and enable more investment in growth areas,” the companies said.
