Paramount+ recently raised prices in June following the integration of Showtime into the streaming platform — and another hike could be right around the corner.
“Our plan is to raise price again. This isn’t our only price increase. Whether we do that in ’25, or we do that in ’24, we’ll see,” Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish said during an investor conference hosted by Goldman Sachs on Wednesday. “Early days, as we evaluate the impact of the price increase, but we believe there’s a lot of room to run there.”
Paramount+ with Showtime is currently available for $11.99 per month, up from its previous pricing of $9.99 per month. Meanwhile, the cheaper, ad-supported Essential tier, which does not include Showtime, has increased to $5.99 from $4.99 per month. Consumers who already pay for the Paramount+/Showtime bundle are not going to be affected by the price increase.
Thus far, Bakish said that the price hike is “very much performing according to plan.”
“There was some question out there if it would adversely affect churn in a significant way or bring down subscriber acquisitions, and the fact of the matter is we’re not seeing that,” he added. “So that proves that we have pricing power in the marketplace, given the content we’re bringing to bear on the platform.”
In the second quarter of 2023, Paramount+ added 700,000 subscribers in the quarter for a total of 61 million. The direct to consumer segment’s adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed to $424 million, compared to $511 million last quarter and $445 million a year ago.
Executives expect subscriber growth at Paramount+ to be higher in the latter half of 2023 than the first half. They also anticipate peak DTC investment in 2023 with “significant growth in consolidated earnings in 2024.”
The effects of the Showtime integration and price increase will be reflected when the media conglomerate reports third quarter earnings. Shares of Paramount have fallen 21.5% year to date.
