Fierce competition in the streaming markets are resulting in changes as companies look to offer as much as possible in singular locations.
The streaming market seems to grow and shrink like breathing. As Disney+ and Netflix gain ad-supported tiers, HBOMax and Discovery+ contemplate a merger, or perhaps a separate free ad-supported tier product that stands on its own. In the beginning of 2024, Comcast will be taking its ball and going home when they buy their remaining share of Hulu and presumable cut off Disney from using their library of NBCUniversal content. Content, licensing, and platforms are at the forefront of the entertainment news cycle these days, and one more is about to go the way of the dodo.
Paramount (formerly ViacomCBS) has announced that Showtime will be merging with Paramount+. While Showtime has a streaming offering, it is primarily known as a premium linear TV channel. Paramount+ is a streaming-only service with access to local CBS affiliates in certain markets. Despite the slight incongruity of those two models, Paramount CEO Bob Bakish has decided to combine them together and eliminate redundancies across them to “unlock operational efficiencies and financial benefits.”
Showtime is getting a name change for the first time in its 47-year history. https://t.co/AMUqiL2LIp
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 30, 2023
In an announcement that is sounding very familiar these days, Chris McCarthy of Showtime told employees that they would “divert investment away from areas that are underperforming and that account for less than 10% of our views” or in plain English: They are cancelling a bunch of shows that nobody watched.
Showtime the brand will live on, but it is now relegated to an awkward appendage on Paramount’s backside. According to a memo from Bob Bakish, the premium tier of Paramount+ and the channel now known as showtime will be renamed “Paramount+ with SHOWTIME” once the merger is completed.
It’s hard to believe that this isn’t the end of the Showtime brand from a practical standpoint despite McCarthy’s claim that it is “complementary and differentiated” from Paramount+. It seems as though most viewers are trending towards singular shows and franchises with streaming services standing as the gatekeepers. Brand loyalty is not a word that gets used often when describing subscriber churn.
Rest in peace, Showtime. Tell Cinemax and Epix we said hello.
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