ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish explained why the company landed on the name Paramount+ for its rebranded streaming service.
“It’s a brand with a history of innovation, it’s over a century old, and a legacy of producing great content,” Bakish said Tuesday during the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference Tuesday. “It’s a brand that has always brought people together to enjoy the entertainment experience. Importantly, it’s a brand that also leverages ViacomCBS’ global position with near universal brand recognition. The fact is consumers all over the world know the Paramount brand, and they love it. So it’s a natural choice for us.”
Bakish argued plastering the Paramount name on its streaming service could also bolster the studio’s footprint. “It is really the beginning of an exciting new chapter for one of the most storied brands in Hollywood,” he said.
On Tuesday morning, ViacomCBS revealed that CBS All Access will be called Paramount+ beginning early next year.
The rebranding is the second, and much bigger, phase of the two-phase expansion of CBS All Access, which first launched in 2014 and was among the earliest entrants in the streaming space. In July, All Access added more than 3,500 episodes from Viacom networks BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and Smithsonian Channel, along with a smaller redesign that incorporates hubs for the Viacom networks.
ViacomCBS says in the weeks since the July addition of content, All Access broke a new record for total monthly streams in August and experienced one of its best months ever in terms of new subscriber sign-ups (though revealed no actual numbers). In addition, the average age of new subscribers in August was measurably younger than the service’s overall average subscriber age, due in large part to the addition of UEFA and the newly added content from various ViacomCBS brands.
“We feel very good about the growth projection that we’re on,” said Bakish.