Paramount is flexing a new bundle muscle: The company has combined Paramount+ and Showtime into a single, merged service — letting subscribers access content from both streamers in one place. It’s also offering promotional discounts on the Paramount+/Showtime bundle of up to 33% for the next month.
Available starting Aug. 31, the new Paramount+ with Showtime bundle experience lets subscribers upgrade their Paramount+ subscription to a bundle that includes the Showtime service and then watch all the content in a single user experience. Paramount has sold a Paramount+/Showtime bundle for about a year, but until now that required using separate apps for each service.
In a promo set to run through Oct. 2, the Paramount+ with Showtime bundle is available to U.S. subscribers at $7.99 per month for the Essential Plan (with ads) and $12.99 per month for the Premium Plan (no ads), representing discounts of 33% and 13% respectively off the regular bundle pricing. The discounted pricing is good for as long as customers keep their bundles (or until Paramount opts to adjust the terms of the offer). After Oct. 2, the bundle will be available for $11.99/month for the Essential tier or $14.99/month for the ad-free Premium tier. The company will not run ads in Showtime content for bundle subscribers with the Paramount+ Essential Plan.
Paramount will continue to offer Showtime separately for $10.99 per month as a standalone service and through third-part party distributors.
“The Paramount+ with Showtime bundle offers consumers unprecedented value by providing one of the broadest content libraries in streaming at one of the lowest prices in the marketplace,” Tom Ryan, president and CEO of Paramount Global Streaming, said in a statement. “This singular user experience streamlines sign-up and enhances discovery, and this lower price will allow more households to enjoy this exceptional combined entertainment offering.”
The unified Paramount+/Showtime product provides a potential model for Warner Bros. Discovery, which plans to merge HBO Max and Discovery+ into a single platform starting in the summer of 2023. WBD has not revealed pricing or packaging details of the HBO Max/Discovery+ combo.
Content on Paramount+ includes original series like “1883,” “Halo,” “Star Trek: Discovery” and “Secret Headquarters” with upcoming originals this fall slated to include “Tulsa King,” “On the Come Up,” “Criminal Minds,” “Wolf Pack,” “1923” and the return of “The Good Fight” and “Seal Team.”
Showtime’s popular shows include “Billions,” “Yellowjackets,” “The Chi” and “Dexter: New Blood.” Fall premieres on the premium service include “American Gigolo,” “Let the Right One In” and the return of “Your Honor” and “The L Word: Generation Q.”
The ad-supported Paramount+ Essential Plan provides on-demand entertainment content plus sports, including NFL games on CBS and more than 2,000 soccer matches each year, plus news through CBS News Network. The Essential Plan does not include access to livestreams from CBS local affiliates, which is available in the Paramount+ Premium Plan.
