CBS All Access no longer exists, and Paramount +, the latest service to become a paid subscription offering, has emerged instead. But Paramount + also comes at a difficult time for smaller services, which compete (admit it or not) against much larger giants like Disney + and Netflix. So where does Paramount + fit in and is it worth it?
This probably depends on the individual viewer’s perception of value, which is in many ways the same question that needs to be asked of all paid content services. But especially when it comes to Paramount +, it enters a space that is already full of services that meet almost all interests. It also decided to launch without a free level of advertising, which could have helped attract unsafe subscribers and which NBCUniversal executives chose to include with the rival service. Peacock at launch. For existing CBS All Access customers, perhaps fans cut the ropes of CBS broadcast programming or its huge amount of programming Star Trek Content—The value of Paramount + may have more content for the same price. However, for the rest of the people, I wonder if the fanfare will be enough to lure them into a new service and potentially away from the ones they already enjoy.
First, let’s clarify what Paramount + really is. This new streaming service is basically CBS All Access, plus more stuff from ViacomCBS. After a free 30-day trial, it will cost $ 10 a month for a higher level that removes ads from on-demand headlines but not from the linear feed, as well as additional live sports and live news coverage from the CBS. In June, Paramount + will introduce a reduced, ad-supported level for $ 5 a month. Confusingly, at launch, prices will remain the same as for CBS All Access with a $ 6 plan that includes limited ads. This option will no longer be available when the new level is launched in June; however, existing CBS All Access subscribers who have had their grandfather may remain in this plan if they so desire.
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On Paramount +, you’ll find content centers from BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, and the Smithsonian Channel, though content from these channels. appeared originally on CBS All Access last year. The company also began to expand its business child-oriented content by the end of 2020 with more stuff from Nick Jr. and new features. In other words, CBS All Access had been building a large part of the foundations of Paramount + before its release. The new and specific service at launch is its originals, five included 60 minutes +, For God’s sake, Choral Camp: SpongeBob’s Under Years, The Real World Homecoming: New York, i SpongeBob’s movie: Sponge on the run—And also an expanded library of episodes of successful series and films that include The aviator, Mindhunters, Mission impossible movies and Gone Baby Gone.
Paramount + definitely feels like an attraction to ViacomCBS assets rather than a unique, cohesive product with a strong identity. The service describes itself as a “top-notch entertainment home for the whole family,” but the collection of channels here, such as those created to create HBO max“It feels a little strange.” Make no mistake: there is so much to see. The service has more than 30,000 episodes of shows and dozens of movies to air at launch. But it was not clear to me who this product is really about, only that it has more stuff than CBS All Access.
The organization of these brands on the service also seemed a bit strange to me, although I found the mobile experience to be easier to navigate than Paramount + on the desktop. All of its content centers are listed below under a prominent carousel of featured content. At the top of the page, you’ll find tabs for shows, movies, live TV, “brands,” and news. As with Netflix and other services, on the home page you will find categories on aspects such as Recommended Shows for You, Keep Watching, Trends and Originals, among others. But if you click on the individual pages of “brands”, you find it a problem, everything appears as a single catalog of titles. In the pages of shows and movies, at least, the navigation is organized alphabetically.
The service may introduce more subcategories of content within these brand pages as it reduces its product, but from launch day it seemed like it would be better to know exactly what you were looking for or be ready to scroll through many titles to find something to look at. Browsing this service is made more difficult by the absence of any formal watch list, which could have helped users navigate the content more easily by marking interesting titles as they browsed.
At launch, Paramount + is available for computers, iOS and Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Facebook Portal, Fire TV, LG Smart TV, PlayStation 4, Prime Video Channels, Roku, Samsung TV, Vizio Smartcast Xbox TVs and devices. The service will “arrive soon” on PlayStation 5, a spokesman confirmed to Gizmodo. Paramount + will offer up to six user profiles, but will be limited to three simultaneous streams. The service announced some series and movies available in 4K, HDR and Dolby Vision, but a spokesman told Gizmodo that the content is limited to Paramount + originals and some Smithsonian Channel content.
Presumably, as the service continues to grow, it will bring more to the table people who were already indifferent to CBS All Access. Two of the most important releases this year, A quiet place Part II i Mission: impossible 7, will go to the service at month and a half after leaving cinemas, which could be a potential attraction for new subscribers. Paramount + will also host all UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches and will include coverage of this year’s NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. Thirty-six exclusive originals will arrive in service in 2021, another potential attraction for subscribers when they premiere.
But as of launch day, Paramount + feels a bit outrageous compared to its fellow broadcasters. Perhaps this is less the fault of ViacomCBS, as it is a product of the large number of services we now have to choose from and Paramount + arrived a little late at the party. Again, I think there is absolute value in this service for former fans of CBS programming, especially for those in whom the home includes children. But aside from bringing more bright, new deals to the table, Paramount + may have trouble convincing new subscribers that it can be great.