Paramount+ streaming service eclipses 32m subscribers

[LOS ANGELES] Paramount+, the streaming service that ViacomCBS is using to compete with rivals Netflix and Disney+, ended last year with 32.8 million subscribers, a sign that the media company's investment in streaming is starting to pay off.

ViacomCBS, which said it's changing its name to Paramount Global in a separate announcement, broke out Paramount+'s subscriber number for the first time while reporting its results for the final quarter of 2021. The company had previously reported a total streaming number that included Paramount+, Showtime and BET+.

Paramount+ added more than 7 million subscribers in the final 3 months of the year, its best quarter to date. ViacomCBS now has 56 million subscribers across all of its services. The company is confident enough in its streaming services that it upped its guidance, projecting 100 million subscribers by 2024.

Paramount+ still has a fraction of the customers of major rivals, but it has picked up its pace over the last year and a half and is now one of the fastest-growing streaming services in the US. It added more customers than HBO Max last quarter and almost as many as Netflix despite operating in far fewer countries.

"We want you to take note of the extraordinary progress we have made over the last 2 years, and all the momentum we have gathered," Shari Redstone, the chairman of the company's board, said during a presentation to investors.

Investors aren't as confident. The shares slipped as much as 7 per cent to US$33.40 in late trading after the company reported earnings, excluding some items, of 26 US cents a share. That was below the 45-cent estimate from analysts.

The growth of Paramount+ is vital for ViacomCBS, a company built on cable TV networks that have haemorrhaged viewers over the last decade. Total sales jumped 16 per cent in the final quarter of 2021, driven almost entirely by streaming. The company generated US$1.3 billion in revenue from its streaming business, up 48 per cent from the year before. Advertising and affiliate sales were flat.

IN-DEMAND TITLES

ViacomCBS owns a film and TV show library that is the second-most in-demand of any major media company, according to Parrot Analytics. But it has licenced hit shows such as Yellowstone and South Park to rival services, and ViacomCBS still splits its original programming between Showtime and Paramount+.

"If ViacomCBS wants to be a leading player in streaming, they must exclusively place this highly in-demand content catalogue onto Paramount+," Parrot Analytics wrote in a note Tuesday (Feb 15).

ViacomCBS is starting to ramp up its output for streaming, and Paramount+ in particular. The company commissioned Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan to make a spinoff, 1883 and has paid South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone to make original movies for its streaming service.

The company announced dozens of new projects for Paramount+ during its presentation to investors Tuesday, including a reboot of Beavis and Butt-Head and a spin-off of NCIS for Australia. Paramount+ will also be the exclusive streaming home of new movies from Paramount Pictures starting in 2024.

ViacomCBS differs from Netflix and Disney in that it owns Pluto TV, a free, advertising-supported service that offers dozens of live channels. Pluto has more than 60 million users and generated more than US$1 billion in sales last year.

"Pluto is the service that continues to not get respect," ViacomCBS chief executive officer Bob Bakish said in an interview. "It's a total home run." BLOOMBERG