Paramount+ Will Be Very Much a Family Affair

For starters expect Paramount to follow the same operational pattern as competitors Peacock and HBO Max to deliver one format commercialfree at one price and another with limited ad load per hour at a lower price Upon launch the commercialfree version will be available at 999 per month Consumers willing to take the other option will have to wait until June to use it at 499 a month one dollar less than the current CBS All Access rate Expedia Procter ampamp Gamble and General Motors are among the initial advertisersOn the matter of original content 36 new series will debut during Paramount39s first year with at least another 20 launching in 2022 Don39t be surprised if those numbers dramatically increase next year and beyond Near the end of the presentation ViacomCBS executive vice president and chief financial officer Naveen Chopra disclosed the intent to raise the number of original series past current levels quotif Paramount39s results workquot Shades of Disney which doubled the number of new 2021 series based on its firstyear success ViacomCBS expects to spend 2 billion on Paramount content in 2021 and increase the budget to at least 5 billion per year in 2024Those original series will fall into two camps reboots and reimaginings of classic Paramount movies CBS titles and chestnuts from ViacomCBS39 cable programming services and franchise spinoffs What may be the most prolific reboot lineup yet to debut in one place includes Frasier The Real World Criminal Minds iCarly Behind the Music Yo MTV Raps and Rugrats From the Paramount movie catalog alone look for series versions of Grease Rise of the Pink Ladies Flashdance The Italian Job The Parallax View and Love Story which NBC turned into a shortlived anthology series in 1973In addition Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko the creators of Nickelodeon39s Avatar The Last Airbender will produce an assortment of content including series movies and short subjects under a new animation studio and Yellowstone cocreatorproducer Taylor Sheridan through his multiyear development contract with ViacomCBS is set to pull together at least three Paramount offshoots of that series including prequel 1883 Be on the lookout for at least two new Star Trek series as well as a weekly Trevor Noah program and 60 Minutes Plus over the next year At least one unscripted series will debut each monthIn another development getting major presentation time BET and Showtime39s streaming service for smart TV sets and gadgets will not be folded into Paramount They will continue as adfree individual ventures and will in fact be bundled with Paramount in nearfuture promotional campaigns More than 15 million consumers have subscribed to BET since its launch 18 months ago and the amount of firstrun content there from Tyler Perry Tracy Oliver and other creators of color will increase and diversify in the months ahead promised BET president Scott MillsMills39 portion of the presentation also served as the venue for blackish creator Kenya Barris to sever his multiprogram relationship with Netflix and move fulltime into the ViacomCBS fold Staying mum on how much he39ll do for ViacomCBS where and under what production environment Barris did reveal that his opening effort for Paramount will be an anthology series dealing with contemporary relationshipsMany key ViacomCBS executives led by chairman Shari Redstone and presidentchief executive officer Bob Bakish received camera time during the presentation originating from a virtual indoor set at Paramount39s Hollywood studios Trailers containing scenes from Paramount39s original series lineup were the exception rather than the rule when compared to the Disney showcase two months ago One impressive trailer promoted Halo the muchanticipated video game treatment originally scheduled at Showtime and now heading to Paramount in early 2022One way or another ViacomCBS39 executives made the point that Paramount will stand up to its rivals from launch day forward with more than 30000 episodes of iconic TV and 2500 movies supplementing firstrun content quotThe breath and depth of creative power from this unified company is truly breathtakingquot Redstone declared quotWe are better positioned to succeed and we39re better in the fundamentals We have the vision to succeed and growquotquotOur mountain of entertainment is bigger than you thinkquot Bakish declaredClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Paramount+ Will Be Very Much a Family Affair

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Simon Applebaum

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