Press Release Paramount+ Joins The Roku Channel’s Premium Subscriptions Lineup (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Paramount+ Joins The Roku Channel’s Premium Subscriptions Lineup, Bringing a Mountain of Entertainment to Streamers Users can subscribe to Paramount's ad-supported Essential Plan or ad-free Premium Plan within The Roku Channel Live sports from the most popular sports leagues and properties arrive in Premium Subscriptions just in time for fall sports season San Jose, Calif. – August 3, 2022: Today Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) announced that Paramount+ will launch as a Premium Subscription within The Roku Channel later this month. The launch will make Paramount+‘s critically acclaimed originals, hit movies, a world class library of popular series, 24/7 news and marquee sports, accessible directly to consumers within The Roku Channel. Users can subscribe to Paramount+'s ad-supported Essential Plan ($4.99 monthly) or the Paramount+ ad-free Premium Plan ($9.99 monthly) on The Roku Channel. Within the Paramount+ experience on Premium Subscriptions, Roku has also created a dedicated Live TV Guide for all Paramount+ live content, marking the first time a dedicated programming guide for a Premium Subscription partner has been created. Through the dedicated Live TV Guide consumers will be able to access Paramount+’s live content all in one place. This includes marquee sports, such as THE NFL ON CBS and UEFA, as well as breaking news from CBS News Network and the latest in entertainment news from Entertainment Tonight. Premium subscribers also have access to their local live CBS station, which includes the live stream of must-watch events and specials. The addition of Paramount+ to The Roku Channel will also mark the first time that live sports content will be available for streamers within Premium Subscriptions. “Paramount+ features an expansive breadth of content for the whole household, spanning original dramas, blockbuster movies, popular unscripted series, sports and news, all at a competitive price point,” said Jeff Shultz, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Business Development Officer, Paramount Streaming. “We are excited to expand our successful partnership with Roku and bring Paramount + to The Roku Channel.” "We're thrilled to partner with Paramount+ in its continued growth, and for the ability to provide our audience with easy access to its extraordinary breadth of content, IP and live news and sporting events" says Rob Holmes, Vice President, Programming. “Premium Subscriptions connects today’s highest-quality content providers to the millions of streamers on The Roku Channel, and we’re excited to introduce streamers to everything that Paramount+ has to offer directly within The Roku Channel." The Roku Channel offers Premium Subscriptions from over 50 services. It allows users to enjoy a unified one-click experience and enables simple subscription management with a single monthly bill. Users of The Roku Channel can now easily browse Paramount+ content before signing up, then enjoy a free seven-day trial with one click and no extra apps or other fees required. Once registered, users can watch Paramount+ content from within The Roku Channel. Paramount+ combines live sports, breaking news, and a mountain of entertainment, with big originals like 1883 and Halo, family favorites like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and PAW Patrol: The Movie, blockbuster movies like A Quiet Place Part II and The Lost City, popular unscripted shows like RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars and unmatched sports programming. The Roku Channel features a diverse lineup of more than 80,000 free movies and programs and over 300 linear television channels in the U.S. It licenses and distributes content from more than 300 partners. In Q4 2021, The Roku Channel reached U.S. households with an estimated 80 million people. The Roku Channel was a top five channel on the Roku platform in the U.S. by active account reach and streaming hour engagement in Q2 2022.

 

[Todd Erwin]

This is the first such deal for P+ to include their less expensive ad-supported tier. It will be interesting to see if both Prime Channels and Apple TV Channels follow, since currently those two only offer the $9.99/month ad-free tier.

However, I expect that any promos that P+ runs (50% off annual sub, extended free trials, discounted trials, etc.) will not carry over to these "Premium" subscriptions, and only to those who subscribe directly and use the stand alone app. That is how it is now, and I do not see that changing anytime in the future, since Paramount has to pay a "commission" for every subscriber who subscribes thru Apple TV, Prime Video, and now Roku Channel.

 

[David Weicker]

I guess I'm confused.

I currently can watch Paramount+ on my Roku device. How will this be different?

 

[Todd Erwin]

I guess I'm confused.

I currently can watch Paramount+ on my Roku device. How will this be different?

Later his month, you will be able subscribe to it on the Roku Channel and access it thru the Roku Channel (I assume on other non-Roku devices that have the Roku Channel app much like you can on the Apple TV app). I feel this will just further confuse consumers, though, as I have seen several posts from subscribers complaining about being billed twice every month (or more), once from Paramount and a second time from Roku, Apple, or Amazon. What the subscriber unknowingly did was subscribe to the service once directly thru Paramount+, and then a second time on Prime Video channels, Apple TV, or Roku.

 

[Capt D McMars]

I guess I'm confused.

I currently can watch Paramount+ on my Roku device. How will this be different?

Billing...I have it thru Roku, rather than thru Paramount+ billing porcess.