Paramount+ unveils originals line-up

ViacomCBS has unveiled the full slate of originals heading to its streaming service Paramount+ ahead of its launch in the US, Canada, Latin America and the Nordics next month.

Paramount+ will replace the media giant’s existing streamer CBS All Access on March 4 in the US, as well as internationally in 18 Latin American countries and Canada, before arriving in the Nordics on March 25.

An Australian launch is planned for later this year, while additional markets are set to follow.

ViacomCBS is the latest US media giant to launch its own direct-to-consumer streaming service, joining Discovery, Comcast, WarnerMedia and The Walt Disney Company in attempting to compete with the likes of Netflix in the SVoD space.

At launch, Paramount+ will feature a massive content catalogue of more than 30,000 episodes of TV, 2,500 movie titles and over 1,000 live sporting events, plus 24-hour news coverage.

Content has been drawn from ViacomCBS’s portfolio of brands and production studios, including BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Showtime, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, Pluto TV and the Smithsonian Channel.

More than 50 original series are set to premiere on Paramount+ over the next two years, including the long-awaited video game adaptation Halo, which is shifting from Showtime to the streamer, alongside reboots of 1990s hits such as Frasier and Nickelodeon’s Rugrats.

Frasier star Kelsey Grammer has been trying to get a reboot of the show, which ran for 11 seasons between 1993 and 2004, off the ground for sometime.

The series will be produced by CBS Studios in association with Grammnet Productions, exclusively for Paramount+. However the original’s popular cast members Peri Gilpin, David Hyde Pierce and Jane Leeves are not currently attached while John Mahoney, who played Martin Crane, passed away in 2018.

Other original series include Criminal Minds, iCarly, The Real World and Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, as well as shows from the Avatar, Yellowstone, Star Trek and SpongeBob SquarePants franchises. More details on the originals are available here.

Sporting leagues and events on the service include the NFL, Masters, PGA Tour, NCAA, SEC, PGA Championship, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, National Women’s Soccer League and Concacaf.

It will be introduced in the US with two pricing tiers: a premium plan at US$9.99 per month and an ad-supported base plan at US$4.99 per month, which will be available in June.

Subscription pricing will vary slightly by markets internationally, but ViacomCBS said Paramount+ will be available to international audiences “at a compelling price point.”

Through ViacomCBS International Studios (VIS), a division of ViacomCBS Networks International, creators from around the world will also debut premium local scripted dramas on the service.

For example, in Latin America, the service will debut The Envoys, a supernatural thriller coproduced with Academy Award-winning director and screenwriter, Juan José Campanella, and Cecilia, a female-led dramedy from Argentinian writer and director Daniel Burman, starring Mexican actress Mariana Treviño.

Internationally, Paramount+ will be available online at ParamountPlus.com, via the Paramount+ app for iOS and Android, and across a number of connected TV devices and OTT platforms.

The service will also be distributed on platforms in international markets, including Claro Video, Mercado Libre and Izzi & Claro Brazil in Latin America and Nuuday, Telenor and Allente in the Nordics.

Select forthcoming films from Paramount Pictures will have their streaming debut on Paramount+ following a theatrical release window of 30 to 45 days, including A Quiet Place Part II, Paw Patrol: The Movie and Mission: Impossible 7.

Additionally, Paramount Pictures announced an agreement with MGM-owned Epix to make thousands of movie titles from a wide variety of studios available to Paramount+ subscribers.

Beginning late spring, the service will stream some of the most popular films and franchises of all time, including the James Bond franchise and the much-delayed new James Bond film No Time to Die, following a theatrical release by MGM and an exclusive pay TV window with Epix.

The company has also outlined plans to ramp up production of movies made exclusively for Paramount+.

These will join original series on Paramount+ such as Flashdance, Land Man, Love Story, Mayor of Kingstown, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, The Italian Job, The Man Who Fell To Earth, The Offer, The Parallax View and a live-action version of The Fairly OddParents.

Paramount+ is also partnering with filmmakers to debut a slate of documentaries, including ones from CBS News, CBSN, CBS Sports, MTV Documentary Films and the Smithsonian Channel.

“In today’s entertainment landscape, ViacomCBS stands apart as the only media company to fully embrace every segment of the streaming universe across free, premium and pay. The launch of Paramount+ supercharges our strategy with a broad pay service that will be home to everything consumers love, all in one place: live sports, breaking news and a mountain of entertainment, at scale,” said Bob Bakish, president and CEO at ViacomCBS.

“As we look ahead, ViacomCBS is ideally positioned to harness the full power of our assets and capabilities – from our world-class production studios and the value of our massive content library, to our global marketing platform and local relationships – to seize the global opportunity in streaming.”