What Could Save Paramount+ and Peacock from Consolidation? Live Sports, Robust Libraries

The writing is certainly on the wall for some streaming services. Aggregation is coming to the streaming industry; it’s only a matter of time before bigger services like Disney+, Netflix and Prime Video begin scooping up smaller platforms and their content to get their hands on new franchises and new streaming customers.

• Paramount+ and Peacock are firmly in the middle-class of streaming services in terms of size, seemingly making them prime acquisition candidates.
• Both streamers have improved their financial outlooks, however, and their long-term prospects look better than they did a year ago.
• Live sports and big pools of library content could allow Paramount+ and Peacock to continue succeeding even without building to the massive scale of a Netflix or Disney+.

How Are Paramount+ and Peacock Doing it Differently?

For a long time, success in streaming had very little to do with how much profit or loss a given streaming service produced. It was all about piling up subscribers and putting out the flashiest original content as streamers tried to fight a battle with Netflix, unaware that they had already lost.

But Paramount+ and Peacock have followed somewhat different strategies. Neither has tried to build itself into a Netflix-type giant; Paramount+ has 63 million users, while Peacock claims 28 million. Both streamers have created their own lineup of premium originals, but they lag far behind their competitors on that score, as well. According to Variety, Paramount+ put out 94 unique TV shows between 2020 and 2022, and Peacock released 119 in the same time frame. By comparison, Hulu and Disney+ released 241 unique shows in that time, while Max (and HBO Max before it) put out 174.

Financially speaking, Paramount+ and Peacock are trying to find a way to profitability as quickly as possible. In fact, Paramount CEO Bob Bakish revealed during the company’s conference call to discuss its third quarter earnings that its streaming segment has already hit peak loss ahead of schedule, and Peacock will achieve the same financial benchmark in 2023.

Will Live Sports and Library Shows Help Paramount+ and Peacock Survive Long-Term?

Both Paramount+ and Peacock could become merger/acquisition targets for a bigger streaming service eventually. But each could find themselves holding out longer than many of their smaller competitors like AMC+ or STARZ, as both have one thing that few subscription video-on-demand services can claim: a robust lineup of live sports.

Both streamers get access to weekly NFL contests, as well as college sports. Both also carry prestigious soccer competitions, and best yet, each offers access to their corporate broadcast sibling. Paramount+ gives users who sign up for the Paramount+ with Showtime plan ($11.99 per month) a 24/7 livestream of their local CBS affiliate, and Peacock does likewise with NBC for users of its Premium Plus tier (also $11.99/month) for even more live sports coverage.

These lineups give cord cutters an alternative to cable for a fraction of the price. To keep users engaged while they wait between live sporting events, both Peacock and Paramount+ have big reserves of library content; Peacock has shows like “The Office” to fall back on, while Paramount+ keeps franchises like Star Trek and animated favorites like “SpongeBob SquarePants” in its catalog. This allows them to spend less on flashy originals, reserving that money for investment in more live sports or other streaming improvements to help bolster their platforms.

Again, these factors likely won’t keep the wolves away from Paramount+’s and Peacock’s doors forever. Indeed, Paramount Global could be acquired any day if another company made it the right offer, though current market conditions make a quick sale of the company unlikely. Peacock is likely to hang on longer since it has corporate parent Comcast to fall back on, while Paramount Global is a pure media play. Still, both services could stick around far longer than some think in an acquisition-hungry marketplace, as streamers begin the process of consolidation with each other.