What's the plan for Paramount+ now after Skydance takeover?

Paramount+ could be subject to considerable change when the service’s parent company, Paramount, is sold to Skydance. Skydance is injecting $8 billion in Paramount in exchange for the Redstone family’s voting shares. That equates to roughly 77% of the family’s voting shares. In doing so, Skydance and Paramount are merging into one, which ends the Redstone family’s involvement in Paramount. This saga dates back months, with Shari Redstone holding talks to sell Paramount back in November 2023.

With this deal, Skydance earns ownership rights to everything under the Paramount umbrella. That includes CBS, Paramount+ and the host of cable TV channels like MTV, BET and Nickelodeon. For now, this means nothing for how Paramount+ and a service like Pluto TV operate. Skydance does not have a streaming service that it would prioritize over these. Additionally, Paramount+ is one of the most popular services among American users.

However, there remains speculation that Paramount+ is at risk. According to television analyst account TV Grim Reaper, there’s “no chance that Paramount+ survives the new ownership in current form.” That’s based on what Jeff Shell, the incoming President at Paramount Global as part of this takeover, said today. First, he said that Paramount+ will essentially sell content to all instead of hoarding it on Paramount+.

Second, streaming still plays a dominant role in a world where linear TV continues on a decline. Yet, there is still a future for traditional TV at a time when streaming is everywhere.

“The experience right now is not great,” Shell said during a call with shareholders on Monday. “For consumers, No. 1, if you have all these streaming services, you want to watch something, you don’t know if you get it. You have to try to remember where it is. For most consumers, who are price-sensitive, it is pretty expensive now to get all these services. It actually ends up being more expensive than an MVPD bundle. So, I don’t think it’s rocket science to suggest that that consumer experience is not sustainable. Eventually, there’s going to have to be some form of bundled solution that’s easy and simple for somebody.”

What does the future hold for Paramount+ as Paramount Global goes to Skydance?

If Shell wants the cable TV networks to do well, that could put Paramount+ at risk. These services have continued to cost broadcasters money, as seen with the prices continually rising. For example, the monthly subscription cost of Paramount+ is going up by $2 this year to make it $7.99 per month to have access to Paramount+.

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For soccer fans, Paramount+ has become one of the best destinations for soccer. Anchored by the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League, CBS’s coverage of soccer has stood out in terms of its quality and availability. As Paramount Global continues to seek new forms of revenue and cost cuts, Paramount+ could be at the center of change.

One early point of speculation is on partnership with another streaming service. There have been reports about Paramount+ working with Peacock to stream content with one another on one service. It could be similar to the plans for ESPN, FOX and TNT merger sports app that puts their live sports offerings in one location. This would be sensible for Paramount+ and Peacock to work together on. Moreover, Shell was previously an executive at NBCUniversal, which oversees Peacock.

In any way, it will be worth following along to see how the deal between Skydance and Paramount Global shakes up the streaming landscape in the United States and what the consequences for Paramount+ may be.

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