Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish announced Tuesday that the streaming service will launch in the United Kingdom and South Korea next month on June 22nd, according to Deadline. Baskish made this announcement during the Paramount Global Q1 earnings call.
According to Deadline, Paramount+ will cost £6.99 ($8.77) per month or £69.90 ($87.71) per year in the United Kingdom, featuring on Sky as part of a multi-platform distribution agreement that also includes the extended carriage of Paramount’s portfolio of pay TV channels. The streaming service costs $9.99 per month and $99.99 per year in the United States.
Bakish also announced plans to launch in Italy, Germany, France, and Austria in the second half of this year, according to Deadline. He also discussed plans to have Paramount+ available in India in 2023 via its Viacom18 platform.
Bakish said on the Q1 earnings call that Paramount+ is “poised to become an even more significant streaming player in the [Indian streaming] market.”
“That is a fundamentally attractive market, a market that is already at scale and has a tremendous future ahead of it in the context of media. Viacom18 has been a significant player in the market since its inception. We look at that as a great opportunity for Paramount+. We’re going to enter in 2023 in a very capital-efficient, hard-bundled way. We think that’s a great route into that market. India will be incremental to our 100 million sub guidance.” Bakish said, per Deadline.
According to Deadline, the 100 million is comprised of subs to all Paramount’s streaming services, not just Paramount+.
“We believe there’s a real opportunity to benefit from cricket without having to pay for it on Paramount+,” Bakish added, per Deadline. He also praised Viacom18 as the “model we like, a broad reach television network combined with a Hindi film business, both regional and national, and streaming assets all underpinned by strong local content.”