ViacomCBS touts nearly 30 million global subscribers just before Paramount Plus launches
With CBS All Access morphing into Paramount Plus in just over a week, the company is announcing a new subscriber milestone for its streaming platforms: nearly 30 million global subscribers.
The company also has 19.2 million subscribers domestically across its platforms, CBS All Access and Showtime. Pluto TV has 43 million monthly active users globally, and 30.1 million domestically. ViacomCBS CEO made the announcement ahead of today’s Paramount Plus event as part of its fourth quarter earnings. The last time CEO Bob Bakish previously reported subscriber numbers in November, noting that CBS All Access and Showtime had a combined subscriber base of 17.9 million subscribers, up 73 percent year over year.
Comparatively, some of ViacomCBS’s biggest competitors are lightyears ahead. Disney Plus is closing in on 100 million subscribers, and Netflix has a global subscriber base of 203 million customers. While both those streaming services are in international territories, US-focused platforms like HBO Max and Peacock are also seeing growth. The first has 17.2 million activations, with the latter touting 33 million users (although it’s unclear how many are paid subscribers).
Executives are hopeful that adding in the suite of Viacom networks previously unavailable at scale on CBS All Access — including Nickelodeon, BET, MTV, and Comedy Central — will give more potential customers a reason to subscribe. For those already subscribed to the service, including those who use it for news and sports purposes, having the suite of networks may provide even more of a reason to stay.
Paramount Plus is ViacomCBS’s rebranded entry into the streaming space. After Viacom and CBS merged again in 2019, the unified company set out to find a way to use its entire breadth of programming and franchises to make a true competitor to Netflix, Amazon, HBO Max, and Disney’s empire (Disney Plus and Hulu). The new streaming service will have more than 30,000 TV episodes and films from across its various brands, including BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, and Paramount Pictures, alongside some aspect of live sports and news.
With CBS All Access morphing into Paramount Plus in just over a week, the company is announcing a new subscriber milestone for its streaming platforms: nearly 30 million global subscribers. The company also has 19.2 million subscribers domestically across its platforms, CBS All Access and Showtime. Pluto TV has 43…
