Paramount Global and Charter Communications announced that they reached a new multiyear distribution deal covering Paramount’s full portfolio of linear cable TV networks, CBS owned stations — and will for the first time include Paramount+ and BET+ streaming services.
The two companies’ previous carriage pact expired April 30, and the parties temporarily extended that while they hashed out a new agreement.
Financial terms weren’t disclosed. The deal will keep CBS and cable channels including BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Network — home to hit series “Yellowstone” — on Charter’s Spectrum TV service. The renewal also covers the premium linear TV service Paramount+ With Showtime (which confusingly has the same name as the direct-to-consumer streamer).
As part of the deal, the ad-supported versions of Paramount’s Paramount+ Essential and BET+ Essential will be included at no additional cost to Charter’s Spectrum TV customers sometime later in 2024 (with no specific date provided). Charter also will make Paramount’s direct-to-consumer services available for purchase to its broadband-only customers.
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The streaming component of the Paramount-Charter deal is similar to the agreement the cable operator struck last year with Disney, under which select Spectrum TV customersare able to access Disney+ and ESPN+ for no additional charge.
Clinching the pact is a critical milestone for Paramount, whose TV business — while declining — generates the majority of its revenue and operating income. Both sides are surely happy to have hammered out an agreement without a blackout of Paramount’s networks on Spectrum. The Charter renewal comes as Paramount Global and its controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, are involved in M&A talks with Sony and Apollo even as they’re still talking to David Ellison’s Skydance Media about a potential deal.
Paramount’s Ray Hopkins, president of U.S. networks distribution, said, “We are very pleased to renew and expand our longstanding partnership with Charter to provide continued access to Paramount’s leading portfolio of broadcast, entertainment, news and sports brands. This innovative deal celebrates our mutual commitment to deliver flexibility, choice and value for audiences everywhere, and we look forward to bringing even more of our fan-favorite programming to Spectrum customers through our direct-to-consumer streaming services for the first time.”
From Charter’s side, EVP of programming acquisition Tom Montemagno commented, “From the outset, Paramount has embraced Charter’s goal of evolving the video distribution model, and we have appreciated their willingness to collaborate on a solution that benefits our mutual customers and the video industry as a whole.”
Charter will continue to carry Paramount’s CBS owned-and-operated broadcast stations, along with all of Paramount’s current cable networks and Paramount+ With Showtime, in relevant tiers across all Spectrum TV Select packages, Mi Plan Latino, TV Choice and TV Stream.
Later this year, Paramount+ Essential and BET+ Essential will be made available at no additional cost to all Spectrum TV Select packages and Mi Plan Latino customers through the Xumo Stream Box or any other Paramount+ supported device, and the Paramount+ With Showtime plan will continue to be accessible at no cost by all of Spectrum’s Paramount+ With Showtime linear customers as well. Spectrum customers who have Paramount+ Essential included will be offered the opportunity to upgrade to the ad-free version of Paramount+ With Showtime later this year.
