Showtime is now set to be rebranded as ‘Paramount+ with Showtime‘ in a move that’s further designed to highlight the relationship between the two services. Over the past few months it had become clear that the gap between Paramount Plus and Showtime was lessening. This latest change essentially closes the gap entirely.
Following the merger of Viacom and CBS to create ViacomCBS before that name was then rebranded as Paramount Global, the two services had seen a much higher degree of overlap. The most recent example of this was the availability to watch some Showtime titles directly within the Paramount Plus app.
Going forward, Showtime itself will now be branded as a Paramount Plus service. Both the linear and streaming version of the service will soon be known as “Paramount+ with Showtime” in the US, according to a memo to employees shared by The Hollywood Reporter. While Paramount Global didn’t confirmed exactly when the change will take place, the memo does make clear that it will happen at some point in 2023.
It currently remains unclear exactly how much the new Paramount+ with Showtime subscription will cost following the rebrand. At present, it is possible to bundle both services together for $11.99 per month (when combining with the Essential Paramount Plus plan) or $14.99 per month (when combined with the ad-free Premium Paramount Plus plan).
Another uncertainty for now is the extent to which this will affect the current Paramount Plus subscription options. In general, it is understood that the cheaper, Essential plan will remain unaffected by the change, as the addition of Showtime is going to be offered as a higher, premium option.
From our understanding, the new Paramount+ with Showtime tier will effectively replace the current Paramount Premium tier, but that doesn’t explain whether the option to subscribe to just an ad-free version of Paramount Plus will remain available. Or, whether users will only have the ability to sign up for Essential (though the name might change to something like ‘Paramount+‘) or the new ‘with Showtime’ tier.
In reality, and due to the slow merging of the two at the plan and app level, the rebranding in itself is not really a surprise. Paramount Global had previously made clear this was the direction it wanted to take Paramount Plus and Showtime in, and the renaming rubber stamps that direction.
For users, however, the change may take some getting used to, and especially for those that have been Showtime subscribers for some time now.
