ViacomCBS Inc. will launch its Paramount+ streaming service in the U.S. and Latin America on March 4.
The arrival of Paramount+ coincides with a rebranding and expansion of the media conglomerate's CBS All Access subscription service, which offers video-on-demand and live streaming to about 9 million subscribers, according to Variety.
Paramount+ will offer content from the ViacomCBS portfolio of cable properties, including Nickelodeon, MTV, ComedyCentral and Hollywood-based Paramount Pictures, the company said in a tweet.
The streaming service is the latest addition to a crowded market. Paramount+ will compete with popular platforms such as Burbank-based Disney+ and Los Gatos-based Netflix.
Bob Bakish, President and Chief Executive of New York-based ViacomCBS, said Paramount+ would try to stand out by offering "a linked ecosystem of differentiated offerings across free and pay streaming," Variety reported.
It was not clear if Paramount+ will have the same monthly subscription rate as CBS All Access, which starts at $5.99.
“With Paramount+, we’re excited to establish one global streaming brand in the broad-pay segment that will draw on the sheer breadth and depth of the ViacomCBS portfolio to offer an extraordinary collection of content for everyone to enjoy,” Bakish said in a statement when the rebrand was announced in September.
Paramount+ will launch in the Nordics on March 25 and in Australia in mid-2021, according to ViacomCBS. On March 4, the CBS All Access streaming service in Canada will be rebranded as Paramount+, with "an expanded offering” coming later in 2021, the company said.
ViacomCBS will hold an investor meeting to discuss its streaming strategy on Feb. 24, and will also release its fourth-quarter and full-year financial results that day.
When CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc. merged in 2019, the combined company said it sought to expand its existing subscription and ad-supported offerings, including CBS All Access, Showtime and Pluto TV, its free television streaming service. At the company's third-quarter earnings call in November, it announced it would be shuttering some of its smaller streaming services.
