5 Top Takeaways from Paramount's Investor Event

Paramount, the company formerly known as ViacomCBS, kicked off its investor day streaming event with a bang on Tuesday afternoon by announcing it had changed its name. Then, the company spent the rest of the presentation proving how appropriate the new moniker was, as its portfolio now completely revolves around Paramount—both the streamer (Paramount+) and the movie studio (Paramount Pictures). Here were our top takeaways from the event: The company's Paramount+ bet is already paying off Paramount broke its own records in the fourth quarter when it came to streaming. Flagship streaming service Paramount+ had a massive quarter (the company broke out the streamer's subscriber numbers for the first time) and added 7.3 million subscribers to reach 32.8 million. That's roughly double where it stood at the end of the first quarter, when it had 16.5 million subscribers. Globally, Paramount added 9.4 million subscribers across its entire direct-to-consumer streaming portfolio, reaching over 56 million total subscribers, up from the 47 million the company last reported. “When it comes to realizing our streaming goals, we're moving fast and gaining even more speed,” Paramount president and CEO Bob Bakish told investors. “We are one full year ahead of schedule, posting subscriber results we didn't expect to see until next January.” ViacomCBS Changes Name to Paramount The company now expects that its streaming portfolio will reach its initial 2024 subscriber goal of 65 to 75 million subscribers—set one year ago— by the end of 2022. Paramount raised that goal to 100 million DTC subscribers by the end of 2024, a number doesn’t include subscribers from the company’s SkyShowtime joint streaming venture with Comcast. Streaming revenue grew 84% year-over-year, led by a diverse global content offering that includes original scripted dramas 1883 and Mayor of Kingstown, family-friendly films like Clifford the Big Red Dog and live sports with the NFL on CBS. Top consumption drivers for the streamer included SpongeBob SquarePants, NCIS and Survivor, and top acquisition drivers featured the NFL, 1883, iCarly and A Quiet Place Part II. Free streamer Pluto TV also had a massive quarter, adding 10 million global monthly active users to reach over 64 million, a 21.3% increase in MAUs. Pluto TV saw an 88% jump in revenue year-over-year, growing from $600 million to $1.1 billion. For streaming, it's thinking globally One reason the company increased its 2024 forecast: Paramount sees a “huge global opportunity” in streaming, according to Bakish. “We're excited about that opportunity and our ability not just to compete, but to thrive, and thereby create significant value for both consumers and shareholders." In the year since Paramount+ launched, it has expanded to 25 markets across Latin America, Canada and Australia. By this summer, the streamer will roll out in the U.K., South Korea and the Caribbean. Tom Ryan, president and CEO, streaming, said the company will continue to grow in the second half of the year, with a focus on Europe in Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland and Austria. “To scale most effectively, we're creating customized go-to market plans for each region with tailored partnerships, marketing and distribution strategies and even product offerings,” said Ryan. Paramount will take the annual plan it rolled out in the U.S. and expand internationally, while also creating new offerings like mobile-only plans in certain territories. The company is teaming up with Vivendi’s Canal+ Group to launch the streaming service in France. The deal kicks in this December and will give subscribers of the Canal+ Ciné Series package access to the streamer. “These kinds of partnerships and hyper-tailored strategies will help us continue to scale quickly and economically, reinforcing our competitive position,” said Ryan. The SkyShowtime partnership is set to be in more than 60 markets by the end of the year. It currently serves territories in more than 90 million homes, primarily in Eastern Europe. In 2023, Paramount will turn its focus towards Asia, Africa and the Middle East. "Our global expansion underscores an important lesson in streaming: The stories we create are only as powerful as the audience they reach,” said Ryan. Everything is Paramount Effective Wednesday, the company will no longer be called ViacomCBS, it announced ahead of its investor day streaming event on Tuesday afternoon. “For more than 100 years, Paramount Studios has been known for cinematic excellence. But Paramount is also an idea, a promise to be the best,” said Shari Redstone, non-executive chair of the company’s board of directors. “Paramount has always represented brilliant storytelling for audiences around the globe, on the big screen, the small screen and every device in between.” Paramount is leaning into its new moniker, expanding franchises across the whole company and announcing a slew of new films and series for the studio and Paramount+. Beginning with the company’s 2024 releases, Paramount+ will be the streaming home of every Paramount Pictures title following their theatrical releases. Some of the biggest content announcements include A Quiet Place Part III from John Krasinski, making its theatrical debut in 2025 and a further expansion of the SpongeBob SquarePants universe, including three new movies exclusive to Paramount+. The cast of the MTV series Teen Wolf will also reunite for a full-length movie on Paramount+, and three new Transformers films will start arriving theatrically in 2023. The streamer is leaning into adult animation, announcing a new Beavis and Butt-Head series premiering globally on Paramount+ (instead of Comedy Central, as originally planned). South Park will begin rolling out on Paramount+ globally as the new exclusive SVOD home beginning with Season 27 in 2024. In 2025, the whole South Park library will arrive on the streamer in the U.S., following the expiration of its current streaming deal with HBO Max. The NCIS world is expanding, with NCIS: Sydney slated for 2024, and a new SEAL Team movie based on the CBS series—which last year relocated to Paramount+—has been ordered for the streamer. And the company is expanding its MTV Challenge franchise into a new collections of series airing in the U.S. (on CBS), Argentina, Australia and the U.K. that will culminate in a globally connected tournament, The Challenge: War of the Worlds. The company's new content strategy, in a nutshell: Showtime begins its Paramount+ integration While Paramount already offered a Showtime and Paramount+ bundle, the two apps had remained separate—until now. Beginning this summer, Paramount will integrate Showtime into the Paramount+ app, though the Showtime service will still be available separately, a move that Showtime execs hinted at earlier this month. Customers will be able to upgrade their Paramount+ subscription to include the Showtime service and be able to view all of the content in a singular user experience. “When you’re done watching Mayor of Kingstown, you’ll be able to move immediately to the next season of Billions without ever leaving the Paramount+ app,” said Ryan. “Less than a year after launch, we're expanding into new markets and making our product easier to explore and more seamless to operate.” Although the company isn't folding Showtime completely into Paramount+ yet, it is now laying the groundwork for that to potentially occur down the line. No Yellowstone streaming rights? No problem One of the company’s most successful shows is about to get even bigger. Paramount announced the next chapter of the Yellowstone franchise with new series 1932. The original series comes from Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan and will follow a new generation of Duttons during the time of western expansion, Prohibition and the Great Depression. Season 4 of Yellowstone was fall TV’s biggest success story. Unfortunately for Paramount, NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock has the streaming rights to Yellowstone. “That deal was done pre the ViacomCBS merger; that was unfortunate,” Bakish admitted. But instead of just throwing up their hands, the company figured out a way to capitalize on Yellowstone's success by building out the franchise within their own company, beginning with Mayor of Kingstown and Yellowstone prequel 1883, which are already Paramount+'s top two original series. Paramount is continuing to grow the Yellowstone universe under Sheridan, with three other series on the way: Land Man (starring Billy Bob Thornton), Lioness (starring Zoe Saldana, who will also executive produce alongside Nicole Kidman) and Tulsa King (starring Sylvester Stallone).

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Everything Revolves Around Paramount, and 4 Other Investor Event Top Takeaways

The company has already accelerated its goals for streamer Paramount+

The company’s Paramount+ bet is already paying off

Mollie Cahillane

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Mollie Cahillane