Paramount Global’s BET+ to join AVoD shift with launch of ad-supported tier

Tyler Perry’s All the Queen’s Men

Paramount Global-owned US streamer BET+ is set to launch an ad-supported tier in June.

The new Essential tier will cost US$5.99, compared with US$9.99 for the ad-free tier, and include exclusive programming from the BET+ line-up and over 2,000 hours of library content from creators and producers such as Tyler Perry, Gabrielle Union, Lee Daniels, Mary J Blige and Kevin Hart.

The new AVoD tier, set to go live on June 25 to coincide with the live broadcast of the BET Awards, will have a mixture of 15- and 30-second ads that will play before and during programming.

Streaming services have moved to embrace AVoD over the past year as they look to find more sustainable financial models.

Paramount’s flagship streamer Paramount+ already has an AVoD tier in the US, and is focused on expanding its ad-supported tier outside the US later in the year.

During an earnings call this week, Disney CEO Bob Iger also said the company saw a significant revenue opportunity as it gears up to launch Disney+’s AVoD tier in Europe before the end of 2023.

BET+, which is focused on black audiences in the US, is a joint venture between BET and Tyler Perry Studios. Its slate of originals includes Tyler Perry’s Zatima and All the Queen’s Men; The Ms Pat Show; The Impact Atlanta; College Hill: Celebrity Edition; Martin: The Reunion; First Wives Club; and Carl Weber’s The Family Business and The Black Hamptons.

“This lower-priced, ad-supported tier of BET+ will not only deliver to our audiences, but to the advertising community, which has long expressed an appetite for more non-linear options in reaching the highly coveted, digital-native black consumer market,” said Louis Carr, president of media sales at BET Media Group.

Scott Mills, president and CEO, BET Media Group, added: “A primary focus for BET+ has been delivering consumers the content they want, how they want it and when they want it, so the natural evolution of the service was to provide consumers with a more economical ad-integrated experience.”