Showtime Originals to Join Paramount+ — For a Fee

Yellowjackets and Billions are finally coming to Paramount+.

Tom Ryan, the streaming CEO at ViacomCBS, announced a new, more seamless way to watch Showtime programming on the Paramount+ platform. Starting in the summer, Paramount+ will offer a streamlined signup for Showtime programming within the app. That means Paramount+ subscribers will not have to move to the Showtime stand-alone service to watch hits like Dexter: New Blood.

Showtime’s stand-alone subscription service and the various third-party platforms that offer shows like the upcoming The Man Who Fell to Earth will all remain available.

The $12 pricing will remain the same for the Paramount+ Essential tier and the Showtime service, with the ad-free rate of $15 for Paramount+ Premium tier plus Showtime. The only thing that changes is the fact that viewers don’t have to move off of the Paramount+ platform to watch Showtime programming. An introductory price of $9.99 will be offered at a date to be determined in the summer.

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“Starting this summer, we’re making Showtime even easier to access … in one app experience,” Ryan said Tuesday during the Paramount+ investor presentation. “The Showtime service will still be available separately if that’s your preference. But within Paramount+, it will be seamless to sign up for Showtime, and easier than ever to discover great shows. You’ll be able to simply upgrade your Paramount+ subscription to a bundle that includes the Showtime service and then view all that content in a single user experience. And then, when you’re done watching Mayor of Kingstown, you’ll be able to move immediately to the next season of Billions — without ever leaving the Paramount+ app.”

The move bolsters Paramount+ at a time when many viewers had been frustrated that they could not stream popular Showtime titles like recent hits Yellowjackets and Dexter: New Blood on the platform. At the same time, ViacomCBS will not sacrifice the revenue and signups that came from Showtime’s stand-alone service.

It’s also worth noting that Showtime originals have long been available on the Paramount+ international service.

“We are unique in that we are bringing great growth in streaming subs, but we also have a healthy premium cable revenue model,” Showtime entertainment president Gary Levine told The Hollywood Reporter last week. “Don’t ever discount that. It’s unique in that way. In a sense, it’s the best of both worlds. It’s feeding the parent company in a way they appreciate. Plus, Showtime series internationally are fueling a lot of the growth of Paramount+ international and that’s a big target of growth for the corporation. And with the bundle, they’re complementary brands; each one is strong, and our brand of Showtime is a very important piece of the ViacomCBS strategy.”

ViacomCBS rebranded CBS All Access as Paramount+ last year with plans to broaden out the platform to include content from across the conglomerate’s multiple entertainment brands including Paramount Network, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and BET. Adding the Showtime component — even at an add-on fee — strengthens the service as a whole without the financial sacrifice.

While Paramount+’s in-app Showtime addition should be seen as a big win for the service, it still doesn’t solve the fact that ViacomCBS’ most popular show, Yellowstone, is still streaming exclusively on NBCUniversal’s Peacock. Execs at ViacomCBS have tried to buy back those rights to no avail and instead launched Yellowstone spinoff 1883 as a Paramount+ exclusive with other shows within the Taylor Sheridan universe also in the works for the platform.