Paramount+ ad-free set for $9.99 monthly, ad-supported for $4.99

The forthcoming Paramount+ streaming service will launch with two prices, one of which is an advertising-supported version whose monthly cost has been reduced to match that of Apple TV+.

As previously reported, ViacomCBS will launch its rebranded CBS All Access under the name Paramount+ on March 4. Executives have now also revealed how they are re-pricing the new service, including decreasing the cost of the lower-price tier.

According to Deadline, Tom Ryan, president and CEO of ViacomCBS Streaming, says what he calls the base tier will be "an incredible value" at $4.99 per month. "To quote a line from a CBS classic, the price is right," he said.

For that price, Ryan said users will get "the full spectrum of the Paramount+ experience." It will include current seasons of CBS shows, "a massive portion" of archive programming, plus news and live sports.

Paramount+ is adding more shows than CBS All Access, had, but that predecessor service started at $5.99 per month. Dropping the cost to $4.99 means Paramount+ price matches Apple TV+, and also more significantly undercuts the $6.99 per month of Disney+.

Unlike those services, though, the base Paramount+ will include advertising. To remove the ads, users will need to buy the premium tier, which is now revealed to cost $9.99 per month.

As well as removing advertising, the more expensive tier will add an unspecified amount of "even more CBS Sports." There will also be more news and live TV content, though again Ryan did not specify any details.

Alluding to Paramount's famous logo, Ryan did say that premium subscribers would see their "mountain of entertainment... get even taller."

According to ViacomCBS, in total, its various global streaming services have over 30 million subscribers. The company achieved that number over seven years since its launch, where Disney+ hit 94.9 million subscribers in 15 months.

19 Comments

acejax805 10 Years · 109 comments

About 3 years ago

Paying to have ads. What idiot thinks that is going to work? I imagine this will change in the near future.

mike1 10 Years · 3437 comments

I'm on my second run with CBS All Access/soon to be Paramount+.

Last year, I subscribed monthly for three months to watch all the new Star Trek content and a few other things. It was worth the extra $12 to have no commercials.

I just now subscribed to a full year of the no-commercial tier for $50. They are offering that promo for subscribing for a full year before Paramount+ launches next month.

jcs2305 11 Years · 1342 comments

acejax805 said:

Paying to have ads. What idiot thinks that is going to work? I imagine this will change in the near future.

Hulu has charged with ads for years @ $5.99 a month. Peacock is now the same as well. Peacock Free is 7,500 hrs of content with 5mins per hour of ads. Peacock premium is $4.99 a month with more than 15,000 of content and the same 5mins per hour of adds. They both offer no ad plans but those come with the higher cost.

jcs2305 said:

acejax805 said:

Paying to have ads. What idiot thinks that is going to work? I imagine this will change in the near future.

Hulu has charged with ads for years @ $5.99 a month. Peacock is now the same as well. Peacock Free is 7,500 hrs of content with 5mins per hour of ads. Peacock premium is $4.99 a month with more than 15,000 of content and the same 5mins per hour of adds. They both offer no ad plans but those come with the higher cost.

I believe Paramount is at least offering the same content regardless of whether or not you pay for the ad-free tier. Peacock may wind up offering more content at the lower tier. Let's face it. Everyone's content is now or will soon be exclusive to their own service, so you'll pay for what you want to watch. I'm not going to pay for Peacock because it's less expensive if the content I want to see is on Disney+, for example.

comcastsucks 5 Years · 74 comments

mike1 said:

I'm on my second run with CBS All Access/soon to be Paramount+.
Last year, I subscribed monthly for three months to watch all the new Star Trek content and a few other things. It was worth the extra $12 to have no commercials.
I just now subscribed to a full year of the no-commercial tier for $50. They are offering that promo for subscribing for a full year before Paramount+ launches next month.

Thanks for mentioning that. I'm iffy on Paramount+ for $100 but I'm in for $50 for the first year. I signed up as soon as I finished reading your post. Feel free to call Paramount and demand a commission from my purchase.