Paramount+ lowers its price to $4.99/month with the Essential plan

Paramount+ has made an important change to its streaming service. Have no fear, the ViacomCBS-owned company isn’t changing the name of their service again, but just the tiers of their plans, adding a new low-priced $4.99/month option called the Essential Plan.

Previously, Paramount+ had two separate options depending on whether consumers decide wanted advertising or not. Their $5.99 per month Basic Plan included limited commercials, while their $9.99 monthly (or $100 annually) Premium Plan was mostly ad-free.

Beginning June 7, the new Paramount+ Essential plan will only cost $4.99 per month or $50 annually. The biggest difference between the older $5.99/month plan and the new $4.99/month Paramount+ Essential is the fact that local CBS stations will no longer be included in Paramount+ Essential.

Existing customers with the older $5.99 monthly plan can choose to remain on that plan to have access to their local CBS channel. If users have the ability to watch their local CBS channel on another streaming service or antenna, then switching to the new Paramount+ Essential would make more sense. However, all brand-new customers will have to choose between Paramount+ Essential and the Premium Plan.

Paramount+ Essential will provide access to 30,000+ TV episodes and movies (with limited commercials), NFL, Champions League, and Europa League games, and 24/7 national news with CBSN.

For soccer fans, Paramount+ certainly has a lot to offer. The streaming service currently holds the U.S. English language rights to the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, NWSL, CONCACAF (including World Cup qualifiers), Brasileirāo, Argentine Primera División, and Copa de la Liga Profesional.

Beginning August 2021, Paramount+ will have the exclusive rights to Serie A from the 2021/22 through 2023/24 seasons, plus Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana. The Supercopa Argentina will also be available to stream on Paramount+ starting in 2022.

Although the $10 monthly Paramount+ Premium plan claims to have “more live CBS Sports” than the lower tier option, all live soccer will be available on the new Paramount+ Essential plan. All new customers can try a week of Paramount+ for free.