ViacomCBS, a new company created from a merger between Viacom and CBS, is planning to enter the streaming television market with a new service that could combine content from CBS All Access, Paramount movies, and Viacom channels, reports CNBC.
The Viacom assets made available through the streaming service would include Pluto TV, Nickelodeon, BET, MTV, and Comedy Central. Both CBS and Viacom already have streaming services (CBS All Access and Showtime, respectively), but the new service would build on CBS All Access and would have more to offer to customers.
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According to CNBC, ViacomCBS executives haven’t made any “firm decisions” on the new streaming service as of yet, but are considering an ad-supported service that also offers an ad-free version and a premium version with Showtime access.
No decisions have been made on a name for the service or a price, but the base service will “probably be less than $10 a month.”
CBS All Access, the current service offered by ViacomCBS, has been around since October 2014, but after the merger, the new company has “added heft” for a new streaming service better able to compete with larger streaming products like Netflix and Hulu.
Right now, ViacomCBS charges $5.99 for an ad-supported version of CBS All Access, and $9.99 for an ad-free version. It offers access to all CBS programming, including live sports and original content.
Viacom offers Showtime as well as Noggin, a $7.99 per month service aimed at children and BET+, a $9.99 per month service that offers original programming from Tyler Perry. ViacomCBS plans to keep its current streaming services available while also marketing the upcoming service to existing subscribers to draw them in to upgrade for a bit more money a month.
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edited to add: I already have Disney and 1 year of Apple TV. Not interested in paying for more.
The people who were screaming for "a la carte" cable channels didn't realize that it was never gonna happen.
The reason you get 200 channels with your cable subscription is because of the way the channels are all bundled together.
If you get 200 channels for $100 a month... you would never be able to select 20 channels for $10 a month. That's just not how it works.
But with streaming... you can select one or more $6/month services and get thousands of hours of programming, on-demand, that you can watch on any device. And you can cancel and reactivate at any time.
Try that with cable channels on a crappy Motorola cable box! :P
And you pay a lot! Let's be clear... $100/month is a lot of money for TV service. Scheduled TV at that. With ads!
But a la carte channels was never gonna happen.
Now we have entire on-demand streaming services available for you to choose from. Pick 1, 2, or 3. It's up to you.
You can get Netflix and Disney+... with more content than any human could possibly watch... for $21/month.
So do we still think 200 channels of scheduled content with ads for $100/month is a great idea? :p