Deadline: Paramount+ Prices To Rise For Most Tiers Starting In August

Story from Deadline:

Paramount Global said Monday that it will increase prices for its Paramount+ tiers with and without Showtime to take effect August 20, although the essential plan hike will only impact new subscribers.

The company said the Paramount+ with Showtime plan will increase by $1 to $12.99 per month for both existing and new customers, while the cost of the Paramount+ Essential plan will rise by $2 to $7.99 per month for all new subscribers.

The Paramount+ Limited Commercial Plan will increase by $1 to $7.99 for current subscribers.

The new pricing will be effective for all new Paramount+ customers and for existing Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers with their next billing date on or after September 20.

Existing monthly subscribers to Paramount+ Essential will continue their subscription at the current price of $5.99 and pricing of both annual subscription plans will remain unchanged.

The streamer touted its offering including live sports, breaking news and originals like series Mayor of Kingstown, The Chi, Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Knuckles, Fellow Travelers, Yellowjackets and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, as well as movie hits such as Bob Marley: One Love, Mean Girls, Top Gun: Maverick and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

This fall will see the return of the NFL on CBS and originals Landman, Tulsa King, Dexter: Original Sin, School Spirits, Frasier and Lioness.

There’s been a drumbeat of price hikes over the past year, and especially this summer. Streamers were priced pretty low to start in a bid to attract subscribers, but financial chaos followed as media companies overspent on content, racking up steep losses. It’s still not clear when Paramount+ will pull into the black. Max raised prices ahead of the second-season debut of House of the Dragon, as did Peacock with the Summer Olympics in Paris next month.

Even with the hikes, Paramount’s ad-free tier, Paramount+ with Showtime is cheaper than Peacock, Max, Disney+, Netflix and Hulu, and its ad-supported plan is on par or less than others.