Paramount+ Price Increase Coming, but No Plans to Crack Down on Password Sharing For Now
Speaking with Wall Street analysts on Thursday, Paramount executives confirmed the coming months would see a price hike for Paramount+ users.
Last quarter was a good one for Paramount+. On the heels of a price increase that saw its ad-free tier rise in cost to $11.99 per month and its ad-supported plan jump to $5.99 when Paramount+ integrated SHOWTIME in June, the service gained 2.7 million new subscribers in the third quarter.
- Paramount executives confirmed again on Thursday that they saw room to raise Paramount+ prices further.
- The company’s last price increase led to fewer cancelations than forecast.
- Rules against password sharing are not expected in the near future, however, as the company does not see sharing users as a meaningful profit drain.
When is Paramount+ Raising Prices Next?
As is the company’s standard, Paramount executives spoke with Wall Street analysts on Tuesday to discuss their third quarter earnings report. During that conference call, Paramount Global Executive VP and Chief Financial Officer Naveen Chopra said that there was plenty of room to raise the subscription cost of Paramount+.
“We see a very compelling pricing opportunity longer term, which is to say [the June price increase] won’t be the last price increase that we do,” Chopra said. “We think there is a continued opportunity for pricing to play a role in growing both revenue and earnings in our streaming business.”
Chopra explained that Paramount+ is still one of the cheapest streaming platforms available, and that its last round of price hikes caused less cancelation reaction than the company anticipated. Her words echoed the company’s CEO Bob Bakish, who stated flatly in September that a price increase was coming in 2024 or 2025, though no final determination had been made about the date yet.
Is Paramount+ Going to Stop Users From Sharing Passwords?
Price increases are very much in vogue these days, as each streaming service tries to work out a formula for becoming profitable in the next few years. Another popular measure to increase profits is enacting rules against password sharing; Netflix got the trend started in May, and Disney+ recently began its crackdown in some countries as well, with the United States expected to see guidelines against account sharing next year.
But Paramount+ customers don’t have anything to fear on that score, at least not yet. Executives say the company’s growth metrics look strong enough for the time being that no rules against password sharing are necessary to help it achieve the financial results it wants.
“Right now, we don’t see [customers sharing accounts] as a major headwind to our growth efforts,” Chopra said. “Obviously, something that we will continue to monitor. And the good news is, I think there’s a template for how we could address that in a value-accretive way. But right now, we’ve got really powerful growth drivers.”
Price increases are never seen as the most customer-friendly of measures, and with good reason. Paramount+ users can expect such increases in the coming months, but at least they won’t have to worry about the streamer cracking down on the sharing of accounts for the foreseeable future.
Paramount Plus
Paramount+ is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 40,000+ TV show episodes from BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and more. The lineup includes “1883,” “Tulsa King,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and “PAW Patrol.” Subscribers can watch the NFL, college football, The Masters, college basketball, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa, Serie A, and NWSL. The service also offers the option to watch your live CBS affiliate. The upgraded ad-free package includes premium movies and shows from Showtime.