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Paramount plans to increase the price of its core streaming service over the next two years and representatives have also commented on it’s pay TV policies. This comes in the wake of Paramount+ with Showtime’s recent pricing increase that was implemented earlier this summer, as stated by CEO Bob Bakish. Here’s what we know:
What has Bob Bakish said about Paramount+’s price increase plans?
At the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference in San Francisco, Bob Bakish said Wednesday, “Our plan is to raise prices again — this isn’t our only price increase. Whether we do that in ’25 or ’24, we’ll see.” When discussing the recent news about Paramount’s May reveal that its premium tier’s monthly price would increase from $9.99 to $11.99, chief executive Bob Bakish expressed that the update did not result in increased subscriber churn or a slowing down in subscriber growth. He then added that it proves “that we have pricing power in the marketplace, given the content we’re bringing to bear on the platform,” further noting that he thinks “there’s a lot of room to run there.”
“We have co-marketing agreements with every major distributor for streaming products. It gives them an incentive to transition and ride that migration in consumer behavior.”
Bob Bakish
When Bakish was asked about the path to profitability, he reiterated his previous statements that investment in streaming is set to peak this year. That is very much tracking to be the case,” the CEO mentioned. He added that 2024 “will be a year of significant streaming loss improvements.” According to the second-quarter earnings announced on August 7, Paramount had incurred a streaming loss of $424 million in comparison to $511 million during Q1.
What did Paramount’s CEO Bob Bakish say about pay TV?
However, streaming wasn’t the only topic that was on the CEO’s mind this Wednesday. Reflecting on pay TV, he remarked, “We continue to get deals done without going dark,” a statement which by the CEO was in reference to the ongoing dispute between Charter Communications and Disney that has left numerous Spectrum subscribers unable to access Disney-owned networks such as ESPN and ABC.
During the discussion, the executive highlighted the importance of Paramount+ with Showtime as his company’s “definitive multiplatform product,” providing consumers with various ways to access its content. He emphasized that it is natural for the business to cooperate with key distribution partners to offer the channel both in streaming and cable formats, while also expressing his confidence that this approach would lead to a higher number of subscribers compared to their competitors.