Paramount+ With SHOWTIME Coming This Summer; What Will the New Bundle Cost?

For most, summer is the best time of year to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. But Paramount Global thinks there will be some very compelling reasons for people to stay indoors this summer, reasons that have nothing to do with the weather.

Paramount held its quarterly conference call to discuss its earnings report on Thursday, May 4. Along with the news that Paramount+ had added 4.1 million new customers in the first quarter of 2023, the company revealed that its new streaming product “Paramount+ with SHOWTIME” would roll out to customers during the summer of 2023.

Apart from a few vague references to the third quarter of this year, there has been little from the company regarding a specific timeline for the release of Paramount+ With SHOWTIME. Paramount Global first announced that it was integrating the two streaming platforms in late January, following Warner Bros. Discovery’s lead after it revealed it would combine its two streaming services HBO Max and discovery+.

The biggest surprise to customers when the announcement was made was the knowledge that for some, the move would be accompanied by a price decrease. Paramount execs confirmed that when Paramount+ With SHOWTIME launches, the cost of ad-supported Paramount+ Essential will rise from $4.99 to $5.99 per month. The price of a Paramount+ Premium subscription is also rising from $9.99 to $11.99 per month, but all Premium subscriptions will include SHOWTIME content when the integration is complete. Users who already had the Paramount+/SHOWTIME soft bundle saw their monthly bill go down; previously they were paying $14.99 per month to get both services, but now their cost is $11.99 per month.

The new integration could be a huge boon to a service already on the rise in terms of engagement. SHOWTIME series “Yellowjackets” and “Your Honor” drove nearly 30% of the hours streamed on the service in the first quarter of this year, which demonstrates their popularity. That doesn’t necessarily mean Paramount+ With SHOWTIME will accrue a large swath of new customers from the merger, but it does mean that SHOWTIME users will likely follow their favorite series to Paramount+, where they will also engage with new content.

Paramount is clearly excited about the combination of Paramount+ and SHOWTIME. The company clearly sees the service as its primary streaming future, as reports have shown Paramount has held discussions about possibly selling BET+, as well as its child-centric streaming platform Noggin. Paramount wants to trim back on its streaming offerings and place Paramount+ With SHOWTIME front and center.

So for all those users out there who have been impatiently awaiting the launch of Paramount+ With SHOWTIME, just hold on. Its debut is mere weeks away, and when it arrives you’ll be able to watch the best of SHOWTIME and the best of Paramount+, all in a single app.