Rebranded Paramount+ streaming service launches on March 4

AppleInsider

The upcoming Paramount+ streaming service, a rebranding of CBS All Access with an expansion of available content, is set to officially launch on March 4, 2021.

Credit: ViacomCBS

Paramount+ will go live in the U.S. and Latin America on March 4, ViacomCBS said Wednesday. The company said a more detailed overview of the streaming plans will be revealed at its fourth quarter earnings call on Feb. 24.

In Canada, CBS All Access will be rebranded as Paramount+, but won't receive all of the new streaming service's features until later in 2021. The service will then reach the Nordic countries on March 24 and launch in Australia sometime in mid-2021.

First revealed in 2021, the streaming service will see a bump in content from about 20,000 TV show episodes to more than 30,000.

While CBS All Access was focused on CBS and internet-based content, the new Paramount+ will include shows from a variety of ViacomCBS channels like BET, Comedy Central, and MTV. Along with the wider portfolio of news, sports, and entertainment, there are also plans for new original services. It will also stream some films from Paramount's slate of movies.

Ultimately, Paramount is ViacomCBS's effort to compete with network rivals such as NBC's Peacock and HBO Max.

Hank2.0

I smell a price hike coming 

mac_dog

I think $5/month is a good price point for all these services. They’re basically regurgitating all their mediocre content even tho you pay a premium price for cable packages—and you have to pay separately for the “+” services. Bullshit. 

lkrupp

Personally I subscribed to CBS All Access to watch Star Trek: Discovery. After the season finale I canceled. There eventually will be a huge shakeout as people simply won’t stand for being $5/$10’d to death by a plethora of streaming services. It makes cord cutting look like a bad idea.

MustSeeUHDTV

I'm cancelling my CBS All Access after this month. ST:Discovery season is over. No new Lower Decks or Picard for a while. The only thing I am watching is the Stand.....but that can wait...

winstoner71

lkrupp said:

Personally I subscribed to CBS All Access to watch Star Trek: Discovery. After the season finale I canceled. There eventually will be a huge shakeout as people simply won’t stand for being $5/$10’d to death by a plethora of streaming services. It makes cord cutting look like a bad idea.

You just explained why cord cutting is a great idea. The fact that you can join a streaming service, watch ONE frigging show, then cancel it with zero penalty, is why cord cutting is a great idea. Keep on churning. 

jd_in_sb

There will be a shake out. Too many pluses. 

thadgarrison

It’s hilarious that Viacom thinks Paramount is a brand that people will find compelling. Another tone-deaf approach to modern media from old media. 

bakerzdosen

Pretty much agree with everything above. ST:Discovery is the only thing on CBSAA I'd even consider subscribing for, and I'm currently patient enough to just wait for it to air on good ole free CBS (still on S1). If I ever get impatient, I'll most likely just binge-watch it during a free trial. Worst case: pay for a month.

I have Netflix and YTTV and Disney+ because of family members, but frankly, I could live without all of them. (I do have ESPN+ for another month or so because I was granfathered in when ESPN the Mag went away and I had like 2 or 3 years left on my $5/yr subscription. But I don't think I've ever used that for video. I doubt I'll ever pay for AppleTV+ once my trial expires - whenever that really happens.) Haven't had a "cable bill" for maybe 8 years. In fact, the home we built 5 years ago doesn't even have coax (rg6) anywhere in the house except one run from the attic antenna going to my HD HomeRun.

(Prime is... Prime. I'd love to get off paying THAT annual tax, but I will fully admit they've got me pretty much hooked for the foreseeable future there...)

I really don't see how people can stand to "cut the cable" and then pay nearly as much (eg YTTV: 2017: $35/mo, 2018: $40/mo. 2019: $50/mo. 2020: $65/mo) in streaming as you did for cable. Yes, bundling is definitely the smart way to go (eg ESPN+/Hulu/D+) but I just can't see people wanting to pay $100/mo total for all of these services, but that's what we're coming to I suppose.

And I can't see these streaming services continuing to "let" their customers easily pay for one month just to watch one or TV shows just to cancel the next month. Maybe most people don't do that, but I sure do see more people online doing that than keeping them year-round.

jgreg728

If they pull an HBO and pull away from Apple TV Channels instead of updating CBSAA (and I guess Showtime?) to Paramount+, it'll be a nail in the coffin for TV Channels as an Apple service. Shame too since I like using them.

napoleon_phoneapart

lkrupp said:

Personally I subscribed to CBS All Access to watch Star Trek: Discovery. After the season finale I canceled. There eventually will be a huge shakeout as people simply won’t stand for being $5/$10’d to death by a plethora of streaming services. It makes cord cutting look like a bad idea.

I subscribe for The Stand.

sdw2001

If they have all of the Star Trek movies in 4K, I’m in. Otherwise, no way in hell. 

22july2013

In Canada, CBS All Access will be rebranded as Paramount+, but won't receive all of the new streaming service's features until later in 2021. 

I can't tell if that means Canada will finally get "all the features" of CBS All Access or not. Currently we get only a fraction of CBS AA, not including Star Trek (and many other shows). Apparently some Canadian company bought the distribution rights of Star Trek in Canada.

If they raise the price in Canada and continue to give us a smaller selection of programs, I'll probably cancel it. By the way, we don't get the option of the bundle of Apple TV+ with CBS AA like Americans do. So we're already paying more, for less. Although I'm not complaining too much about that since the price is not outrageous.

StrangeDays

bakerzdosen said:

[snip]

I really don't see how people can stand to "cut the cable" and then pay nearly as much (eg YTTV: 2017: $35/mo, 2018: $40/mo. 2019: $50/mo. 2020: $65/mo) in streaming as you did for cable. Yes, bundling is definitely the smart way to go (eg ESPN+/Hulu/D+) but I just can't see people wanting to pay $100/mo total for all of these services, but that's what we're coming to I suppose.

And I can't see these streaming services continuing to "let" their customers easily pay for one month just to watch one or TV shows just to cancel the next month. Maybe most people don't do that, but I sure do see more people online doing that than keeping them year-round.

Well the misconception about cord cutting is that you're going to try to replace all the channels with services. You aren't. You've realized most of it is garbage and you don't need it. The few things you consider quality (which varies per viewer) you pay for. Example -- paying for HBO when Game of Thrones was running, and then canceling when it wasn't. 

I definitely think they're fine with customers turning the service on & off. They prefer you never turn it off, and some won't. But it becomes their job to provide annual meaningful content. HBO has succeeded in this for me -- since GoT ended they have had enough interesting shows and documentaries for me to keep it on. Starz and Showtime, not so much, it's on & then off when my has ended (Homeland, American Gods, Twin Peaks, etc). But they'd rather collect sometimes than not collect at all, no?

SpamSandwich

Saw one episode of NuTrek and found it unwatchable. Apple should start buying up studios. There will be more streaming services barely able to compete in this environment of everyone and their grandmother making videos and shows.

mark fearing

The next issue will be exactly that - the getting it for a month, then cutting it. Getting it, cutting it. I suspect we will start to see pricing that points us towards not doing that. I've kept HBO but every month I think about getting rid of it. Right now Hulu seems to be the bigger hit in our house than Netflix. We also have Prime but as mentioned, that's gonna be there since we already pay for, ah, Prime and use the shipping all the damn time.
Apple TV is now part of the services bundle so I guess we get that. Disney we get too...I can't see adding another service no matter what they put on as I don't have the time to watch what we have now.

StrangeDays

mark fearing said:

The next issue will be exactly that - the getting it for a month, then cutting it. Getting it, cutting it. I suspect we will start to see pricing that points us towards not doing that. I've kept HBO but every month I think about getting rid of it. Right now Hulu seems to be the bigger hit in our house than Netflix. We also have Prime but as mentioned, that's gonna be there since we already pay for, ah, Prime and use the shipping all the damn time.
Apple TV is now part of the services bundle so I guess we get that. Disney we get too...I can't see adding another service no matter what they put on as I don't have the time to watch what we have now.

I doubt it. It is incredibly easy to turn off channel/app subscriptions (especially Apple TV channels). There’s no reason not to do so, and people have turned them on or off for years. It’s a feature, not a bug.