Paramount+ Wants You To Shell Out More For Watching Starting In August, Even If You Stream It With Ads — Here's What You Need To Know

Paramount Global PARA has announced a price hike for most of its Paramount+ subscription plans, effective from August.

What Happened: The ad-free Paramount+ With Showtime plan will see a $1 increase, bringing the monthly cost to $12.99. The Paramount+ Essential plan, which includes ads, will rise by $2 to $7.99 per month for new subscribers. The new prices will come into effect on Aug. 20 for new customers, reported Variety.

For existing Paramount+ With Showtime subscribers, the new price will be effective from their next billing date on or after Sept. 20. The monthly subscribers to Paramount+ Essential will continue at the current price of $5.99.

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The annual subscription plans for both tiers will remain unchanged, that is Paramount+ bundled with Showtime at $119.99 per year, while Paramount+ Essential at $59.99 per year. The price of the legacy Paramount+ Limited Commercial plan will also increase by $1 to $7.99 per month.

These changes come after the company’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, called off discussions about merging the company with David Ellison‘s Skydance Media earlier this month.

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Why It Matters: Despite the price increase, the new cost of Paramount+ With Showtime remains lower than the ad-free versions of Netflix, Disney+, and Warner Bros. Discovery‘s Max. Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Discovery increased the price of Max’s no-ads plans in the U.S.

Last week, actress Sydney Sweeney was alleged to be using a pirated streaming service to watch “NBC’s Law & Order: Organised Crime.” At the time, fans expressed their understanding, citing the continuous increase in subscription prices.

In April, Paramount Global announced first-quarter revenue of $7.685 billion, marking a 6% year-over-year increase. However, this figure fell short of the Street’s consensus estimate of $7.732 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.