Paramount+ with Showtime users warned of $11.99 price rise

Subscribers of Paramount+ who were on the old Showtime and CBS All Access bundle are being warned of a price rise, with the monthly cost increasing to $11.99 as subscriptions renew.

Paramount+ and Showtime merged on June 27 into a single service called Paramount+ With Showtime, with subscribers carried over to the service kept under the existing pricing structure at first. Now, those users are having to pay a bit more.

Previously, customers who were under the original Showtime and CBS All Access package, before the latter became Paramount+, were charged $9.99 per month via the iOS app In-App Payment system.

Emails sent to those same users by Apple are warning of a subscription price increase, with the cost going up from $9.99 per month to $11.99 per month. The email warns when the renewal at the higher price will take place, unless customers cancel at least one day before.

Paramount+ did previously indicate the prices were going up for subscribers. The emails about the renewal rate are being sent when each account is a month away from the next payment at the higher rate.

The price rise actually brings the old package in line with the current offering's pricing of $11.99 per month or $119.99 per year for the ad-supported version, or $14.99 per month for an ad-free tier.

While more expensive, the package is still a good deal for consumers. At $11.99, it's just $1 more than paying for Showtime alone, while Paramount+ as a standalone option costs $4.99 per month with ads, $9.99 per month without.

12 Comments

jbdragon 2312 comments · 10 Years

About 1 year ago

That is funny how it says Apple is raising the price of the subscription from $9.99 to $11.99. HAHAHA

Apple is doing no such thing. Paramount+ is raising its own rates.

StrangeDays 12960 comments · 8 Years

Paramount+ is user hostile — despite paying for ad-free, they insist on forcing you to watch two unskippable ads in the pre-roll. (promos for their own crap) Why on earth they don’t allow them to be skipped is beyond me, I’ve seen the same damn ads dozens of times

22july2013 3725 comments · 11 Years

StrangeDays said:

Paramount+ is user hostile — despite paying for ad-free, they insist on forcing you to watch two unskippable ads in the pre-roll. (promos for their own crap) Why on earth they don’t allow them to be skipped is beyond me, I’ve seen the same damn ads dozens of times

I would dump Paramount (again) if they did that now.

Here are other horrible practices (not picking on Paramount here):
Unskippable ads when you start playing a DVD that you paid for.
DVDs which you bought that start you off by saying "accessing downloadable content". So you can't watch your own DVD without an internet connection? And you have to pay for their internet connection? Are they tracking your views?
Anti-piracy warnings that you still have to watch even though you legally bought the media.
Paying Google over $100/year for "commercial free youtube videos" then having to watch two minute promo ads included inside the video itself. And to add insult to injury, Google itself warns you that the video contains promotional material. So isn't that false advertising by Google?
If I am watching a Blu-ray DVD on a Blu-ray device, why are do I sometimes need to see some promos touting "the magic of blu-ray?" Don't I already own the hardware?
P.S. At least when using the Apple TV app on macOS, it is possible for software to press the skip button on the recaps and previews. Thanks for giving me the idea to write that software. It should take five minutes to write that.

P.S. If Paramount wanted to make money, they could charge an extra $1/month to let users skip the ads. I would probably pay for that.

jbdragon said:

That is funny how it says Apple is raising the price of the subscription from $9.99 to $11.99. HAHAHA
Apple is doing no such thing. Paramount+ is raising its own rates.

I wonder how it's worded for those users who subscribe to Paramount+ directly through Paramount rather than through Apple TV.

To be fair, it is Apple that's collecting the fee for Paramount if you are paying through the Apple TV and/or Apple TV app. So I have no issue with that wording. I once subscribed to Paramount+ but only through the Apple TV app for the extra privacy it gave me. Privacy is worth $$$. Companies like Paramount are counting on the idea that consumers are stupid and don't care about privacy. Maybe most consumers are stupid. For now.

22july2013 said:

StrangeDays said:

Paramount+ is user hostile — despite paying for ad-free, they insist on forcing you to watch two unskippable ads in the pre-roll. (promos for their own crap) Why on earth they don’t allow them to be skipped is beyond me, I’ve seen the same damn ads dozens of times

I would dump Paramount (again) if they did that now.

Here are other horrible practices (not picking on Paramount here):
Unskippable ads when you start playing a DVD that you paid for.
DVDs which you bought that start you off by saying "accessing downloadable content". So you can't watch your own DVD without an internet connection? And you have to pay for their internet connection? Are they tracking your views?
Anti-piracy warnings that you still have to watch even though you legally bought the media.
Paying Google over $100/year for "commercial free youtube videos" then having to watch two minute promo ads included inside the video itself. And to add insult to injury, Google itself warns you that the video contains promotional material. So isn't that false advertising by Google?
If I am watching a Blu-ray DVD on a Blu-ray device, why are do I sometimes need to see some promos touting "the magic of blu-ray?" Don't I already own the hardware?
P.S. At least when using the Apple TV app on macOS, it is possible for software to press the skip button on the recaps and previews. Thanks for giving me the idea to write that software. It should take five minutes to write that.

P.S. If Paramount wanted to make money, they could charge an extra $1/month to let users skip the ads. I would probably pay for that.

I already paid for the ad-free tier. Paying another hike on top of that to *really* not see ads is not acceptable.