ViacomCBS
In an online event for investors, ViacomCBS revealed several new details about CBS All Access replacement Paramount+, including pricing as well as two new Star Trek series that will premiere on the network. Also, the company announced that a much-anticipated Showtime show will end up on Paramount+ instead.
Paramount+, which was announced several months ago, will launch on March 4 in the United States, Canada, and 18 Latin American countries. As with CBS All Access, both an ad-supported and ad-free plan will be offered. In the US, the ad-supported one will cost $4.99 per month, while the ad-free plan will cost $9.99.
That $4.99 per month is $1 cheaper than the ad-supported version of CBS All Access. However, this cheaper plan will not include local CBS stations. The service is also expected to launch in Nordic countries within a few weeks and in Australia sometime later this year.
When it launches, Paramount+ will have 2,500 films and 30,000 TV episodes, according to ViacomCBS executives. That will include some original series, many of which will be available in 4K and Dolby Vision HDR.
Original series will include those we’ve already seen on CBS All Access, including the large slate of Star Trek shows such as Discovery, Picard, and Lower Decks.
Two new Star Trek series have recently been announced: a CG animated kids’ show called Star Trek: Prodigy, and a spinoff about Captain Pike and Mr. Spock called Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Prodigy was planned for airing on Nickelodeon (which is owned by the Viacom part of ViacomCBS), and it will still air there— but only after appearing on Paramount+ first.
Additionally, it has been confirmed that the long-anticipated and much delayed series based on the video game franchise Halo will be delivered via Paramount+; it was originally planned as a Showtime series. Steven Spielberg is an executive producer on the show, which is planned to premiere in the first quarter of 2022. According to Deadline, shooting was well underway when the pandemic forced a shutdown. During the break, it was decided to move the show to the broad-audience Paramount+ service rather than “adult” and “sophisticated” Showtime. (Those descriptors were used by Showtime exec David Nevins to describe the network.)
Other content includes a Frasier reboot, as well as some 2021 theatrical film releases like Mission Impossible 7.