ViacomCBS Unveils Comprehensive Streaming Strategy and Expansive Slate of Originals Headed to Paramount+

Rhea-AI Summary

ViacomCBS (NASDAQ: VIAC; VIACA) has announced a comprehensive streaming strategy update, showcasing the launch of Paramount+ on March 4. The platform will offer a blend of live sports, news, and entertainment from iconic brands like CBS and Nickelodeon. With over 50 exclusive original series slated for release and a library exceeding 30,000 episodes, Paramount+ aims to create a competitive ecosystem alongside Pluto TV and SHOWTIME®. This move positions ViacomCBS to leverage its extensive content assets and marketing capabilities in the evolving streaming landscape.

Positive

• Launch of Paramount+ on March 4, enhancing the streaming ecosystem.
• Over 50 exclusive original series planned for upcoming release.
• Access to a vast library of more than 30,000 episodes and 2,500 films.
• Strong brand portfolio to attract diverse audience demographics.

Negative

• None.

ViacomCBS (NASDAQ: VIAC; VIACA) today updated investors on its differentiated streaming strategy, which leverages the company’s strong product offerings across free, premium and pay segments with Pluto TV and SHOWTIME® OTT to create a linked ecosystem with the highly anticipated launch of Paramount+ on March 4. Paramount+ will feature a powerful combination of live sports, breaking news and a mountain of entertainment from ViacomCBS’ portfolio of world-renowned brands and production studios, including BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and the Smithsonian Channel.

Star Trek: Prodigy (Photo: Business Wire)

New details about Paramount+ were unveiled during the ViacomCBS Streaming Event presentation, including an expansive slate of over 50 exclusive original series across scripted dramas, kids and family, reality, comedy, music, sports, news and documentaries that are set to premiere on the service in the next two years, including 36 arriving in 2021. These originals will join a deep and growing content catalog of more than 30,000 episodes and 2,500 movie titles. In addition, pricing tiers, leading launch sponsors and international rollout plans were announced.

“In today’s entertainment landscape, ViacomCBS stands apart as the only media company to fully embrace every segment of the streaming universe across free, premium and pay,” said Bob Bakish, President and Chief Executive Officer, ViacomCBS. “The launch of Paramount+ supercharges our strategy with a broad pay service that will be home to everything consumers love, all in one place: live sports, breaking news and a mountain of entertainment, at scale. As we look ahead, ViacomCBS is ideally positioned to harness the full power of our assets and capabilities – from our world-class production studios and the value of our massive content library, to our global marketing platform and local relationships – to seize the global opportunity in streaming.”

Tom Ryan, President and Chief Executive Officer, ViacomCBS Streaming, said, “Built from an iconic portfolio of beloved consumer brands and iconic franchises like SpongeBob and Star Trek, Paramount+ is a compelling and differentiated streaming offering for all audiences. In combination with Pluto TV and SHOWTIME®, the service will further strengthen our robust linked streaming ecosystem, giving us a critical competitive advantage as we pursue our goal of reaching consumers across every platform, at every price point, with creativity, content and experiences that are second to none.”

Differentiated Content Strategy – Sports, News and Premium Entertainment, At Scale

The content strategy for Paramount+ is rooted in a commitment to telling great stories across every genre, including must-watch sports and news programming. The live and on-demand service will leverage the company’s biggest franchises and storied IP, including through premium originals and a deep library of shows and movies from some of the world’s greatest content creators, highlighting the hit-making power of ViacomCBS to deliver a truly unique offering with can’t-miss content and wide demographic appeal.

Paramount+ To Feature Robust Collection of Films

Select upcoming films from Paramount Pictures will have their streaming debut on Paramount+ immediately following a theatrical release window of 30-45 days, including: A Quiet Place Part II, PAW PATROL: The Movie and Mission: Impossible 7. Other key titles arriving on Paramount+ in 2022 following their theatrical runs, and in some cases after their pay TV debuts on EPIX, include: Snake Eyes, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Top Gun: Maverick, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Transformers 7, Dungeons and Dragons, Scream and more. Paramount Pictures’ recent titles will be available as well, from Dora and the Lost City of Gold and Sonic the Hedgehog to Bumblebee and Rocketman, all coming to Paramount+. These films will join the previously announced The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie: Sponge on the Run, which will be available on Paramount+ at launch.

Additionally, Paramount Pictures announced an agreement with EPIX to make thousands of movie titles from a wide variety of studios available to Paramount+ subscribers. Beginning late spring, the service will stream some of the most popular films and franchises of all time, including films from the James Bond and Hunger Games franchises to features like The Addams Family and The Avengers, among many others in a deal that will grow the service’s film library to over 2,500 titles.

And, following a theatrical release by MGM and an exclusive pay television window with EPIX, MGM’s new movies will become available on Paramount+, including House of Gucci, Creed III and the highly anticipated new James Bond film, No Time to Die.

The company also outlined plans to ramp up production of movies made exclusively for Paramount+. The first of these feature-length films offered will include new versions of Paranormal Activity and Pet Sematary as well as an original supernatural story, The In Between, featuring Joey King, the star of the smash hit, The Kissing Booth. These titles produced by Paramount Players will join a collection of exclusive original movie premieres supplied by the broader portfolio of ViacomCBS studios.

Expansive Slate of Upcoming Paramount+ Original Series

Today’s virtual presentation previewed an extensive new slate of original content for Paramount+, ranging from gripping dramas and unscripted series to franchise expansions and brand-new animated titles.

Scripted Dramas

With brilliant creators, top talent and smart execution, ViacomCBS has been the creative force behind countless award-winning scripted drama series. This incredible collection will come together as a key pillar of the Paramount+ content library, with new additions of exclusive originals and exciting new takes on iconic franchises outlined as follows:

• Criminal Minds – top rated series in broadcast and streaming returns with a new scripted series that brings the team back together to investigate a single, fascinating case over 10 episodes.
• Flashdance – a young woman struggles to make her mark in the ballet world while navigating romance, money, art, friendship, and how to love herself. Award-winning Mad Men writer Tracy McMillan is writing and executive producing the drama series which will pick up from where the story left off, but in present-day. True Blood’s Angela Robinson will direct and executive produce the series with Lynda Obst.
• Halo – based on the iconic Xbox® franchise, Halo’s epic universe and cast of characters come to life in this new original drama series. In the new television adaptation, Halo will take place in the universe that first came to be in 2001, dramatizing an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant. Halo will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.
• Land Man – set in the proverbial boomtowns of West Texas, Land Man is a modern-day tale of fortune seeking in the world of oil rigs. The series is an upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires fueling a boom so big, it’s reshaping our climate, our economy and our geopolitics.
• Love Story – Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, the executive producers of Gossip Girl, The O.C. and Looking for Alaska, are bringing to Paramount+ a series based on the award-winning perennial film, Love Story.
• Mayor of Kingstown – follows the McLusky family, power brokers in Kingstown, Michigan, where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry. Tackling themes of systemic racism, corruption and inequality, the series provides a stark look at their attempt to bring order and justice to a town that has neither.
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – the next installment of the popular Star Trek franchise is based on the years Captain Christopher Pike manned the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The series will follow Captain Pike, Science Officer Spock and Number One in the decade before Captain Kirk boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise.
• The Italian Job – when the grandchildren of the legendary Charlie Croker inherit his old safety deposit box, the quest for the infamous Italian bullion is reignited. The series, from Paramount Television Studios, is executive produced and written by Matt Wheeler (Hawaii Five-0), and produced by Donald De Line.
• The Man Who Fell To Earth – starring Oscar-nominee and BAFTA-winner Chiwetel Ejiofor, is based on the Walter Tevis novel of the same name and the iconic film starring David Bowie. The series will follow a new alien character who arrives on Earth at a turning point in human evolution, and must confront his own past to determine our future.
• The Offer – a scripted limited event series from Paramount Television Studios, based on Oscar-winning producer Al Ruddy’s extraordinary, never-revealed experiences of making The Godfather. The 10-episode event series is written and executive produced by Michael Tolkin (Escape at Dannemora, The Player). Ruddy will also serve as executive producer, alongside showrunner Nikki Toscano (Hunters), and Emmy® Award-winning producer Leslie Greif (Hatfields & McCoys).
• The Parallax View – a scripted series from Paramount Television Studios, based on the iconic film. The series will be executive produced by Paula Wagner.
• Y:1883 – follows the Dutton family as they embark on a journey west through the Great Plains toward the last bastion of untamed America. It is a stark retelling of Western expansion, and an intense study of one.
• Yellowstone Spinoff, 6666 (Working Title) – founded when Comanches still ruled West Texas, no ranch in America is more steeped in the history of the West than the 6666. Still operating as it did two centuries before, and encompassing an entire county, the 6666 is where the rule of law and the laws of nature merge in a place where the most dangerous thing one does is the next thing… The 6666 is synonymous with the merciless endeavor to raise the finest horses and livestock in the world, and ultimately where world class cowboys are born and made.

Kids and Family

Home to some of the biggest franchises in the world, including SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and PAW Patrol, the kids’ portfolio is fueled by Nickelodeon’s library of nearly 7,000 hit episodes, plus a string of all-new originals based on the most beloved characters in the brand’s history, such as:

• Avatar – Nickelodeon’s new animation studio division dedicated entirely to creating content based on the wildly popular world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. Led by the series’ original creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, in partnership with the Nickelodeon Animation Studio, Avatar Studios will produce for Paramount+ a wide-range of Avatar-inspired content, ranging from spinoffs and theatricals to short form.
• Dora the Explorer – a new live-action series based on the iconic character, designed for an older audience of kids 6-11 and their families.
• iCarly – a new chapter for the most successful kids’ sitcom of all time, where original cast members Miranda Cosgrove, Nathan Kress and Jerry Trainor join new friends for a look at these characters’ present-day lives, adventures and comedic mishaps.
• Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years – the first-ever spinoff of SpongeBob SquarePants, Kamp Koral is a CG animated original series that takes viewers back to when the iconic characters of Bikini Bottom met for the very first time, in a summer camp like no other.
• Rugrats – an all-new series featuring Nick’s iconic babies, back together with the original voice cast in new CG animation.
• Star Trek: Prodigy – the first-ever Star Trek for the kids and family audience, combining the Nickelodeon sensibility with the action and adventure hallmarks of the Star Trek franchise.
• The Fairly OddParents – a live-action take on one of Nick’s longest running and most successful animated hits.

This Nickelodeon-created slate joins Paramount+’s previously announced original kids’ series such as WildBrain’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Boat Rocker’s new Danger Mouse and new editions of Lassie, George of the Jungle and Mr. Magoo from DreamWorks Animation’s Classic Media.

Reality

A genre created by MTV in 1992, reality TV is one of the most popular forms of content today. It reigns at the top of broadcast and cable ratings around the globe and in streaming, it’s the fastest growing vertical. ViacomCBS leads the reality category with over 5,000 episodes of the biggest reality hits, with plans to expand its collection with the following original and reprisals:

• Big Brother Live Feeds – offers an in-depth, exclusive pass to the show where fans have the opportunity to watch all the action inside the Big Brother house.
• Dating Naked – the most vulnerable social experiment returns to bring dating back to its most honest, unguarded and naked form. Can these modern daters strip back their preconceived notions, carefully curated images AND their clothes to reveal their true selves and find love?
• Ink Master – the tattoo competition reality series where some of the nation’s top tattoo artists battle it out in various tattoo challenges that not only test the artists’ technical skills, but also their on-the-spot creativity for the title of Ink Master.
• Love Island on Paramount+ – an extension of the popular CBS reality series that takes subscribers beyond the boundaries of what’s shown in the broadcast with exclusive content and live visits to the Villa.
• Queen of the Universe – in a singing competition like no other, drag queens from all around the world compete to see who is Queen of the Universe. High heels, high octaves, high competition - this drag queen singing competition will blow your wig off. From Emmy® Award-winning production company, World of Wonder.
• Road Rules – back with a new roster of Road Warriors. These strangers will be abandoned in a far-flung location and stripped of their modern-day luxuries by boarding a restricted life in an RV, traveling from location to location. They will be guided by a set of clues, odd jobs and missions for money. If they last to the end of the trip, they walk away with the life changing prize.
• RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars – the best of the best from the Emmy® Award-winning RuPaul’s Drag Race return to compete for $100,000 and a coveted spot in the Drag Race Hall of Fame. In each episode, legendary queens will battle it out until only one drag queen is crowned the winner.
• The Challenge: All Stars – twenty-two of the most iconic, boldest, and fiercest Challenge All Stars from the original Real World and Road Rules have been selected to return for a second chance at the ultimate competition. All have history, but when relationships are the key to survival, will these legends be able to form new bonds or will their past lead to their demise? With $500,0000 and their legacies on the line, which of these All Stars will prove they are still the best of the best?
• The Real World: Homecoming: New York – almost 30 years later, the original “seven strangers” that paved the way for modern reality TV are moving back into the New York loft where it all began. Viewers will be reunited with the cast from the very first season of The Real World in a brand new multi-episode docuseries to find out, once again, what happens when they stop being polite… and start getting real. Series begins streaming on Thursday, March 4th.

Comedy

When it comes to beloved IP and iconic comedic franchises, Paramount+ delivers with a rich library of over 6,000 episodes in the genre alone. Joining this massive catalog of comedy titles, exclusive series arriving soon include:

• Frasier – Frasier’s back – and he’s more exactly the same than ever. Kelsey Grammer reprises his role as the Dr. Frasier Crane.
• Grease: The Rise of the Pink Ladies – with both classic and new songs, and a diverse cast, the series is a prequel to the unforgettable musical film, Grease, and tells the story of how Frenchy’s older sister, Jane, founded the Pink Ladies. The series, from Paramount Television Studios, is executive produced by Annabel Oakes (Atypical, Transparent), Marty Bowen (Twilight) and Erik Feig (La La Land).
• Guilty Party – a dark comedy starring Kate Beckinsale as a discredited journalist who finds herself in over her head when she latches onto the story of a young mother sentenced to life in jail for murdering her husband – a crime she claims she didn’t commit.
• Inside Amy Schumer – the Peabody, Emmy® and Writers Guild Award-winning franchise returns with five specials starring Amy Schumer, one of the entertainment industry’s leading forces as a stand-up comedian, actress, writer, producer and director.
• Reno 911! The Hunt For QAnon – a super-sized event based off the long-running hit, critically-acclaimed Comedy Central series. Most recently, Reno 911! received two 2020 Emmy® Award nominations for Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series and for Outstanding Actress in A Short Form Comedy or Drama Series (Kerri Kenney-Silver). In 2021, the show is nominated for a Critics Choice Award.
• The Game – the popular BET sitcom returns with a mix of original cast and new players, and will offer a modern-day examination of Black culture through the prism of pro football.
• The Harper House – an animated family comedy that follows an overconfident female head of a household as she struggles to regain a higher status for herself and for her family of oddballs after losing her job and moving from the rich side to the poor side of an Arkansas small town.
• The Weekly Show with Trevor Noah (Working Title) – Trevor Noah will star in and produce an initial six episode series looking at stories across the societal landscape and talk with the people behind the headlines: people you know; people you don’t know; and people you didn’t even know you didn’t know.
• Younger – Darren Star’s critically acclaimed smash-hit, Younger, follows Liza Miller (Sutton Foster), a talented editor navigating the highly competitive world of publishing — while juggling the complications of mixing business with pleasure and facing the lie she created about her age to land her dream job.

Additionally, exclusive original comedy movies that will reignite franchises for new and nostalgia-driven fans alike are expected to arrive on Paramount+ in year one:

• Untitled Beavis & Butt-head Movie – Emmy® Award-winning Mike Judge reimagines MTV’s seminal, Gen X-defining Beavis and Butt-Head who return for another movie adventure to kick-off the new series.
• Workaholics Movie – made-for-streaming movie based off the popular long-running Comedy Central series starring Blake Anderson, Adam DeVine, Anders Holm and Kyle Newacheck.

Music

For almost 40 years, MTV has chronicled the world of music through the eyes of the most important artists — telling the stories that only MTV can, because MTV was there. And now, on Paramount+, MTV is unlocking its treasured vault to bring new and exclusive series like:

• Behind the Music – Behind the Music is back! The groundbreaking and prolific music documentary series returns with several new episodes and the best of the vault remastered and updated for today’s audiences with artist interviews, a creative refresh and reimagined visual style.
• From Cradle to Stage – this new six-part, unscripted television series from Director Dave Grohl was inspired by his mother, Virginia Hanlon Grohl, and based on her critically-acclaimed book, From Cradle to Stage: Stories from the Mothers Who Rocked and Raised Rock Stars. The series is a dynamic personal exploration of the special relationship between successful musicians and their moms. Each episode features a famous performer and their mom as well as Dave and Virginia.
• Unplugged – MTV’s most iconic musical performance franchise will come to Paramount+ several times a year as special intimate MTV Unplugged events featuring some of the world’s biggest artists.
• Yo! MTV Raps – MTV is bringing back its most storied hip-hop series and music franchise Yo! MTV Raps for Paramount+. The return of Yo! MTV Raps will include hosted segments, live performances, cyphers and lifestyle content, and will serve as a comprehensive deep dive into the current state of hip-hop. After its debut 33 years ago on August 6, 1988, Yo! MTV Raps became the premiere destination for all things hip-hop. The advent of the series was crucial to the rise of rap music worldwide, creating a global passion for the genre and greater hip-hop culture, which has since become the most dominant force in mainstream music and pop culture worldwide.

CBS All Access Originals to Continue as Paramount+ Originals

In addition to the forthcoming titles produced exclusively for Paramount+, the award-winning CBS All Access originals will rebrand to Paramount+ originals and continue to super-serve fans of:

• No Activity – a half-hour police comedy, starring Patrick Brammall and Tim Meadows, which was previously a live-action series, will be completely animated for season four.
• Star Trek: Discovery – the series, starring Sonequa Martin-Green, follows the voyages of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and new life forms, and one Starfleet officer who must learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself.
• Star Trek: Lower Decks – a half-hour animated comedy series, focuses on the support crew on one of Starfleet’s least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, in 2380. Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Rutherford and Tendi have to keep up with their duties and their social lives, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies.
• Star Trek: Picard – features Patrick Stewart reprising his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard, which he played for seven seasons on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The series follows this iconic character into the next chapter of his life.
• Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News – a daily news satire series featuring a cast of animated characters, led by anchor James Smartwood, lampooning real-world news stories and interviewing live-action guests.
• The Good Fight – the critically acclaimed drama starring Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart follows her next chapter at one of Chicago’s preeminent African-American law firms. The wide-ranging topicality of the series captures the current sociopolitical era as the firm confronts real life issues of today.
• Why Women Kill – a dark comedy created by Marc Cherry, is an anthology series that examines how the roles of women have changed over the decades, but how their reaction to betrayal... has not.

Sports

In bringing everything sports fans love on CBS to Paramount+, the service will feature over 1,000 live sporting events per year, including regular season games, playoffs, championships and more across the following marquee properties:

• THE NFL ON CBS
• The Masters
• NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship
• PGA TOUR
• SEC ON CBS
• The PGA Championship
• National Women’s Soccer League
• UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League – Paramount+ is the only place in the U.S. where soccer fans can find exclusive English-language coverage of every UEFA club competition match, every season.

In addition, Paramount+ is expanding its exclusive English-language rights in the U.S. with three more soccer properties, featuring hundreds of additional matches.

• Concacaf – offering more than 200 Concacaf matches, starting with the Concacaf Nations League Finals in June of this year, which will feature the U.S. Men’s National Team. Coverage will feature all 41 national teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean across different competitions, including the qualifiers for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, which will feature the defending champion U.S. Women’s National Team.
• Liga Profesional de Fútbol – Paramount+ will stream more than 300 matches a year from Argentina’s top soccer division.
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A – Paramount+ will stream more than 360 matches a year from Brazil’s premier soccer league.

The service will also be the exclusive home of a long-running, Emmy® Award-winning original series Inside the NFL, which takes fans even deeper into the game and the passion of the NFL all season long. And knowing fans don’t stop watching when the players stop playing, Paramount+ will feature the 24/7 streaming sports news service, CBS Sports HQ.

News

With breaking news and impactful journalism, the award-winning CBS News team will offer Paramount+ subscribers deep insights into the world through best-in-class reporting. News offerings will include renowned CBS News programs, new series such as 60 Minutes+, live streams of local affiliates in over 200 markets across the U.S., and the 24-hour streaming news service CBSN.

In addition to news programs audiences already know and love, Paramount+ will be home to brand-new titles based on CBS News’ premier franchises, including:

• 60 Minutes+ – a compelling new version of the renowned newsmagazine and number one news program in America. Award-winning correspondents Enrique Acevedo, Seth Doane, Wes Lowery and Laurie Segall bring Paramount+ viewers a new perspective on the investigative reporting and exclusive newsmaker interviews that have made 60 Minutes must-watch television for generations.
• 48 Hours original: The Lie Detector – a Texas Ranger who for decades led the department’s investigations into its most twisted and high profile murder cases takes viewers behind the scenes of those crimes and into the minds of the people who committed them. The Lie Detector is a true crime docuseries from the Emmy® and Peabody Award-winning producers of 48 Hours in a new and compelling original format exclusively for Paramount+.

Documentaries

ViacomCBS is a definitive leader in storytelling, and audiences are increasingly hungry for shows that document history, from the distant past to history that’s being made today. Driven by these insights, Paramount+ is partnering with some of the world’s best filmmakers to debut an incredible slate of gripping, powerful and relevant documentaries, including the following from CBS News, CBSN, CBS Sports, MTV Documentary Films and the Smithsonian Channel:

• 76 Days – a look at life in the earliest days of the COVID-19 crisis in Wuhan, China, the Oscar Shortlisted 76 Days focuses on frontline hospital workers and their patients, bearing witness to the human resilience that persists in times of profound tragedy.
• Black Gold – from Oscar-nominated director Darren Aronofsky's Protozoa and Emmy® Award-winning Time Studios, this is a true-life conspiracy thriller about a decades-long campaign to trade our planet for profit.
• For Heaven’s Sake – blends comedy and crime documentary formats for a unique take on uncovering the truth. The series follows the search for Harold Heaven, who mysteriously disappeared from his remote cabin in Ontario, Canada, in the winter of 1934.
• The Real Criminal Minds – a true crime docu series, featuring a former real FBI profiler. The series will examine real cases, and real criminal behavior, illustrated by clips fans will remember from the fictional series.
• Watergate – from MTV Entertainment Studios, this series will illuminate a moment in our history that parallels so much of what’s happening now.
• Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In – tells the story of the legendary manager of Manchester United, and one of the most memorable figures in European football.
• Stories from the Beautiful Game – an original soccer documentary series produced by Pete Radovich, the award-winning coordinating producer of CBS Sports’ UEFA coverage. Paramount+ will release several soccer documentaries every year, starting later in 2021.

In addition to long-lead productions, ViacomCBS will also produce exclusive Insta Docs for Paramount+. These instant documentaries will be released within days of breaking news and will dive deeper into events that capture the attention of the nation.

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Paramount+ Pricing Tiers

Paramount+ will have two pricing tiers available to U.S. subscribers that marry the best of live and on-demand programming.

The premium tier, at $9.99, will be available with the full depth and breadth of live sports, around-the-clock news programming and world-class entertainment spanning Paramount+ originals to an expansive suite of current and library shows and movies. The offering will include CBS’ live linear feed and commercial-free on demand viewing, with 4k, HDR and Dolby Vision, mobile downloads and cross-platform dynamic play functionality.

An ad-supported tier will launch in June for $4.99 and offer the best in sports, news and entertainment. At that time, the current $5.99 plan will no longer be available for new users, but existing users will maintain grandfathered access. The ad-supported tier will feature a compelling offering of exciting Paramount+ originals, marquee sports content including live championship-level soccer and live NFL games, breaking news through CBSN and an extraordinary collection of content, including the full suite of current and library CBS shows available on demand.

Both Paramount+ tiers will feature a seamless user interface, enhanced curation and discovery, personalized homepages, content categories and central hubs for ViacomCBS’ brands. Additionally, each subscription option will include parental control capabilities and up to six individual profiles.

Broad Distribution

At launch, Paramount+ will be available online at ParamountPlus.com, via the Paramount+ app for iOS and Android, and across a wide number of platforms, including smart TVs, connected-TV devices, online, mobile, gaming consoles, and leading OTT providers.

Launch Sponsors

ViacomCBS is proud to present General Motors, Expedia and Procter & Gamble among a select group of leading launch sponsors for Paramount+ in the U.S. Through marketing integrations, custom activations and ViacomCBS’ suite of ad capabilities, these advertisers will have unparalleled access to leading brands, popular IP and premium digital video to deliver significant reach and impact across ViacomCBS’ highly engaged and diverse audiences.

International Rollout

Paramount+ will debut internationally in 18 Latin American countries and Canada on March 4, 2021, the Nordics on March 25, 2021 and Australia with a rebrand and expansion of 10 All Access later this year, with additional markets to follow.

With production capabilities across five continents, strong distribution agreements and local relationships and expertise around the world, Paramount+ will leverage ViacomCBS’ leading global reach – including the largest global broadcast footprint – to drive streaming growth and international expansion. ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI) will build on its momentum in prized formats, and as one of the top global producers of Spanish-language content, to bring exclusive series to market for fans of kids and family, scripted dramas, reality and more.

In select international markets, Paramount+ will offer audiences exclusive originals that include The Man Who Fell to Earth, Mayor of Kingstown, Guilty Party, Halo and The Offer, among others, an expansive content library of over 5,000 hours of iconic ViacomCBS IP and hit franchises across genres and a premium user experience. For most international subscribers, Paramount+ will also be the home to SHOWTIME® and feature celebrated series Dexter, Ray Donovan, The Affair, Your Honor, The Comey Rule and Escape at Dannemora. And importantly, like in the U.S., internationally Paramount+ will offer some of the biggest kids franchises in the world, including SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dora the Explorer and PAW Patrol – in addition to the highly anticipated Kamp Koral and Nickelodeon Animation Studio’s The Astronauts.

Premieres of prized formats including some of MTV’s biggest global reality franchises – such as Acapulco Shore and Are You The One?: Brazil in Latin America, as well as Story of Songs in the Nordics, and a deep catalogue of the best reality hits such as Jersey Shore, Ex on the Beach, Catfish and more – will be available in Latin America, the Nordics and Australia.

And, through ViacomCBS International Studios (VIS), a division of ViacomCBS Networks International, top creators from around the world will also debut premium local scripted dramas on the service. For example, in Latin America, the service will debut:

• The Envoys – a supernatural thriller co-produced with Academy Award-winning director and screenwriter, Juan José Campanella.
• Cecilia – a female-led dramedy from renowned Argentine writer and director Daniel Burman and starring acclaimed Mexican actress Mariana Treviño.

Subscription pricing will vary slightly by market, but Paramount+ will be available to international audiences at a compelling price point.

Internationally, Paramount+ will be available online at ParamountPlus.com, via the Paramount+ app for iOS and Android, and across a number of connected TV devices and OTT platforms. The service will also have broad distribution on major platforms in international markets, including Claro Video, Mercado Libre, Izzi & Claro Brazil in Latin America, and Nuuday, Telenor and Allente in the Nordics.

About ViacomCBS:

ViacomCBS (NASDAQ: VIAC; VIACA) is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates premium content and experiences for audiences worldwide. Driven by iconic consumer brands, its portfolio includes CBS, Showtime Networks, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, CBS All Access, Pluto TV and Simon & Schuster, among others. The company delivers the largest share of the U.S. television audience and boasts one of the industry’s most important and extensive libraries of TV and film titles. In addition to offering innovative streaming services and digital video products, ViacomCBS provides powerful capabilities in production, distribution and advertising solutions for partners on five continents.

For more information about ViacomCBS, please visit www.viacomcbs.com and follow @ViacomCBS on social platforms.

VIAC-IR

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FAQ

What is the launch date for Paramount+ by ViacomCBS?

Paramount+ is set to launch on March 4.

What original series will be available on Paramount+?

Paramount+ will feature over 50 original series, including new takes on popular franchises and brand-new titles.

How many episodes and films will Paramount+ offer at launch?

Paramount+ will provide access to more than 30,000 episodes and 2,500 films.

Which brands are included in the Paramount+ content lineup?

Notable brands include CBS, Nickelodeon, BET, and MTV.

What competitive advantages does Paramount+ have in the streaming market?

Paramount+ leverages a strong content library, iconic franchises, and a linked ecosystem with Pluto TV and SHOWTIME®.