Update 1 (03/04/2021 @ 1:32 PM ET): ViacomCBS’s Paramount+ streaming service is now available. Click here for more information. The article as published on January 20, 2021, is preserved below.
CBS All Access, a streaming service from ViacomCBS, is set to be rebranded as Paramount Plus starting March 4. The company announced the rebrand will become official at a special event set for February 24.
The rebrand is apparently a strategic decision on the part of ViacomCBS. Back in September of 2020, ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish said Paramount has more brand recognition than CBS. Indeed, Paramount Pictures is one of Hollywood’s oldest studios and is part of the “Big Five,” which also includes Warner Bros. and Universal. Over the years, the studio has been responsible for distributing Transformers, Titanic, Forrest Gump, and the Mission: Impossible franchise, the latter of which is still going strong.
Even still, it’s an uphill battle for the service, which is going up against HBO Max, Disney+, Netflix, Hulu, and many others. I do think it’s an improvement over the CBS All Access name, however, which suggested it was a niche streaming service for select TV shows.
When the rebrand to Paramount Plus happens on March 4, the service will also become available in Latin America, followed by the Nordics on March 25. It will then come to Australia in mid-2021. Meanwhile, the service will also be rebranded to Paramount Plus in Canada on March 4, with more content set to be available in the country later this year.
Once the rebrand takes place, Paramount Plus will continue to offer its lineup of older and original content, including Star Trek: Discovery, The Offer, and much more. The service will also feature content from the various studios under ViacomCBS, including BET, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and MTV. The service is also home to streaming sports, including NFL games.
CBS All Access is estimated to have around 8 million subscribers, making it one of the smaller services on the market. It remains to be seen if a rebrand will help the service’s market share, especially with services like Disney+ already having such a commanding lead.
Update: Now Available
Starting today, ViacomCBS’s new Paramount+ streaming service is live. It’s not an entirely new streaming service as it’s an evolution of CBS All Access, but the relaunch also brings the service to Latin America and, in the near future, to Nordic countries and Australia. On top of that, the service is gaining content from other studios under ViacomCBS, such as BET, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and MTV. There are also live TV channels including CBS, CBS Sports HQ, and ET Live. There’s some new original content available at launch, too, such as The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run, For Heaven’s Sake, and The Real World Homecoming.
You can sign up for Paramount+ starting today for $5.99/mo for the Limited Commercials plan or $9.99 for the Commercial Free plan. You can stream to up to 3 devices at the same time but only the latter plan allows for downloading content for offline viewing. There’s a 30-day free trial available until the end of this month if you want to try before subscribing.
Paramount+ | Watch Live Sports, News & Originals (Free+, Google Play) →
The post CBS All Access re-launches as Paramount+ in the US, Canada, and Latin America appeared first on xda-developers.
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