A Fully Combined SHOWTIME, Paramount+ Service Is Coming, but Likely Not Anytime Soon

Cord cutters who love the premium programming offered by SHOWTIME will have to wait a little longer for the service to be merged with Paramount+. While reports circulated earlier this month that Paramount Global was looking to finally merge its premium cable channel’s streamer with its flagship service, last week Paramount CEO Bob Bakish said thatthe company would be keeping both streaming services as standalone entities for the time being, though he did confirm that conversations regarding a merger had taken place.

The media report that you referred to is a rumor coming out of one of our distribution conversations that quite frankly if we weren’t having that conversation, you should fire all of us because we should have that conversation,” Bakish said at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference. “It’s not like we’ve made a decision that we’re going to do something on such and such a date. But I guarantee you, media will continue to evolve; I guarantee you our product line will continue to evolve, it will get better. And I guarantee you, we will continue to work with distributors and provide value to them such that they benefit.”

Paramount has already taken steps to make SHOWTIME content available via Paramount+ as last month, the company finally launched an in-app bundle to give Showtime programming its own hub inside Paramount+. Key to this move according to Bakish was the streamlining of the customer experience; instead of forcing subscribers to switch back and forth between apps, all of the series and movies available from both services are easily accessible within one streamer. This also gives customers a potential preview of what a merged streaming platform might look like.

But reporting from Forbes demonstrates why Paramount isn’t rushing to consolidate its two streaming platforms just yet. For one thing, the company will likely have to go to every linear TV provider that carries Showtime and renegotiate its carriage deals with them because of the change in distribution strategy. This process will undoubtedly take a lot of time and effort.

Another stumbling block to a fast launch of a merged SHOWTIME-Paramount+ app is the money from potential subscribers. A single streaming service will almost certainly come in at a higher price point than the $4.99 per month that Paramount charges for its ad-supported Essential Paramount+ subscription. The company likely wants to see Warner Bros. Discovery launch its combined HBO Max/discovery+ service first, to see how customers respond to a higher price for more content.

Currently, discovery+’s Ad-Lite tier also runs $4.99 monthly while HBO Max’s cheapest plan is $9.99 per month. Finding the right pricing balance to keep customers currently subscribed to the cheaper service when the price for the combined streamer inevitably rises.

Finally, Paramount simply doesn’t need to rush the merger of its streaming services right now. It stands to gain a large number of subscribers as its deal to include access to Paramount+ with every Walmart+ subscription kicks in. “Top Gun: Maverick” will also be hitting Paramount+ before the end of 2022, and will likely bring a nice subscription boost with it.

A combined SHOWTIME-Paramount+ service is absolutely on its way, but the company is not feeling the need for speed as of now.