A "new" contender has entered the
Great Streaming Wars in the form of Paramount+, which is the rebranded name for the platform
formerly-known as CBS All Access. On March 4, Paramount+ launched in the US, Canada, and Latin America with a massive media library of more than 30,000 television episodes, 2,500 movie titles, and over 1,000 live sporting events annually. Paramount+ is the new streaming home for all things under the ViacomCBS banner: BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, and the Smithsonian Channel.
Paramount+ is the second major streaming platform to launch in 2021 after
Discovery+ made its impressive debut back in January. But where Discovery's content strategy is focused entirely on the reality TV space, Paramount+ looks poised to compete with streamers like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video with a unique blend of scripted and unscripted original series. However, to compete against those aforementioned streaming giants, you need IP.
At a reasonable $5.99 per month in the US ($9.99 for the ad-free version), Paramount+ has a mountain (forgive the pun) of IP in the form of its massive
Star Trek empire that continues to expand with the addition of two upcoming series: Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The streamer also recently announced its adaptation of the
Halo video game franchise starring Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief will premiere on Paramount+ in early 2022. At launch, new titles like
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, The Real World Homecoming: New York, and the For Heaven's Sake documentary are available to stream at no extra cost to subscribers. While the user interface is a bit clunky and not as aesthetically pleasing as some other streaming platforms out there, overall Paramount+ makes a strong debut with plenty of movies and shows to binge at launch.
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The new Paramount+ streaming platform offers a diverse library of new and classic films and television series, along with some memorable original programming from the Star Trek Universe and beyond.
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