The Complete History of Paramount+ Price Hikes
Introduction
Streaming undeniably shifted the way we watch television, but few broadcasters adapted to the change as well as CBS. In 2014, they offered CBS All-Access at $5.99, simply bringing their live channels online on both a local and national basis. This live TV streamer eventually formed the base of what we know as Paramount Plus today.
Like most streaming services, Paramount Plus has since raised their prices. We’ve listed all the major price hikes below. However, the global streamer also went through many shifts, deals, and mergers behind the scenes that made their reach and content library a force to reckon with. With its long history, it will be interesting to see how this old media giant adapts to the streaming wars today.
Paramount+ Price Hikes
August 31, 2016. From $5.99 to $5.99 (CBS All Access with ads)
Two years after launch, CBS All-Access made its first price change. While not a price hike, CBS All-Access reworked their plan structure to include “commercial-free” bundles at a higher price.
The plans offered to customers were:
- Monthly base plan – $5.99
- Monthly commercial-free plan – $9.99
- Yearly base plan – $59.99
- Yearly commercial-free plan – $99.99
Since TV channels air ads live, the commercial-free plans technically aren’t commercial free. However, the new bundles removed ads from the streaming service itself and also added the option of offline downloads, so the pricier tier makes sense.
March 4, 2021. From $5.99 to $4.99 (Paramount+ ad-supported base tier)
The biggest change to the streamer was when CBS All-Access became Paramount Plus. This happened as a result of CBS Corporation and Viacom re-merging into ViacomCBS, now Paramount Global.
While making the transition, Paramount Plus carried over their plan structure with one exception. The monthly base plan actually decreased in price by $1.
- Monthly base plan – $4.99 ($1 decrease)
- Monthly commercial-free plan – $9.99
- Yearly base plan – $59.99
- Yearly commercial-free plan – $99.99
Paramount+ also offered previous CBS All-Access customers a 50% discount for one year on the then-new streamer. Subscribers who chose to take it returned to their regular rate a year after.
- Yearly base plan discount – $29.99
- Yearly commercial-free plan discount – $49.99
Since then, Paramount+ has only had two price hikes as of writing.
June 27, 2023. From $4.99 to $5.99 (Paramount+ ad-supported base tier)
Two years later, Paramount Plus raised prices on all of their bundles except for the yearly base plan. The monthly base plan returned to the near six-dollar rate it started at.
- Monthly base plan – $5.99 ($1 increase)
- Monthly plan with Showtime – $11.99 ($2 increase)
- Yearly base plan – $59.99
- Yearly plan with Showtime – $119.99 ($20 increase)
The biggest change were the commercial free tiers. These plans were bundled with Showtime, which marked Paramount Global’s intention to streamline all their content into one platform. The Showtime app, as well as Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., MTV, Comedy Central, and Paramount Network streaming apps were all discontinued by the following January.
August 20, 2024. From $5.99 to $7.99 (Paramount+ Essential tier)
Paramount+ increased prices again, but only for the monthly subscription. Annual plans remained the same rate.
- Monthly Essential plan for new subscribers – $7.99 ($2 increase)
- Monthly plan with Showtime – $12.99 ($1 increase)
- Yearly Essential plan – $59.99
- Yearly plan with Showtime – $119.99
With the price increase, Paramount Plus’ base plan falls around the same price as Peacock, Disney Plus, and Hulu’s base plans.
Paramount+ Future Price Hikes
Most streaming services have raised prices over the past years, so it won’t be a surprise if Paramount Plus follows suit.
That being said, it’s rather impressive to see how long Paramount Plus kept from hiking prices. Since 2014, the entry-level price for the live TV streamer has only gone up by two dollars. Not many streaming services can say that. It’s hard to tell how long they’ll be able to keep prices down considering inflation, but given that Paramount Global owns most of the content it airs on its streaming service, their rates are less likely to be affected by those pesky programming fees used to justify price hikes.
At the same time, when Paramount Plus does raise prices, it would likely be a consequence of adding more content onto the platform, like when they added Showtime. While talks haven’t panned out with Skydance Media, Paramount Global has mentioned their goal of “forming a joint venture or a long-term strategic partnership” last year. Hopefully, if they do manage to make a deal with another company, the channels that would be added would improve the service.
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