ViacomCBS added 4.3 million streaming subscribers in Q3

ViacomCBS added 4.3 million global streaming subscribers in the third quarter, driven by the Paramount+ service, to reach nearly 47 million international paid users, the company reported.

Domestically, Paramount+ saw strong subscriber sign-ups and engagement from a variety of content, including “A Quiet Place Part II,” “Paw Patrol: The Movie,” as well as the start of the NFL season. Internationally, Paramount+ launches to date have had strong momentum, led by progress in Latin America, Brazil, Australia and Canada.

At the same time, Showtime OTT benefited from originals, including “Billions,” “American Rust” and “The Chi”. Pluto TV, the other streaming service from the company, reported a growth in revenues of 99% year-over-year, as MAUs increased to over 54 million in the quarter, helped by international growth.

During the period, the group announced the signing of SkyShowtime, a joint venture with Comcast that will include premium and original content from both companies. The platform will reach more than 20 European territories encompassing 90 million homes.

Financially speaking, total company revenue increased 13% year-over-year, reflecting growth across all revenue streams. Quarterly global streaming revenue surpassed $1 billion for the first time, with growth of 62% year-over-year, driven by strength in subscriptions and advertising.

"ViacomCBS continued to show tremendous momentum across the business as we executed against our strategy. We added 4.3 million global streaming subscribers, raising our total to nearly 47 million, driven by the scaling of the diverse content offering on Paramount+. Looking forward, we're thrilled about the fresh array of content coming to Paramount+ in the next few months and can't wait to share it with our global audience. Our strategy is clearly working and we'll continue to use the power of global content, distribution and market expansion to drive scale,"  commented Bob Bakish, President & CEO of ViacomCBS.

●  VIACOMCBS' LICENSING STRATEGY

As ViacomCBS reported its latest earnings, Parrot Analytics found that the company possesses a fundamentally sound collection of content and IP to be a major player in the streaming era, a primary goal for Bob Bakish. The problem, according to Parrot, is that ViacomCBS’s current status as “an ‘arms dealer’ for its most in-demand content”  means that short term revenue is valued higher than building Paramount+ up as a sizable and notable competitor.

“if ViacomCBS wants to become a true power player in the space, streaming its most in-demand series exclusively and in full on Paramount+ is key to finding a way to stand out amongst the competition,”  Parrot Analytics noted.

When it comes to Corporate Demand Share - a consolidation of original demand where platforms are combined based on their corporate parent to show where audience attention is ultimately going - ViacomCBS is in second place with American audiences, behind only Disney and ahead of fellow legacy media conglomerates WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal.

However, Paramount+ lags against its SVOD competitors - coming in fifth place in overall catalog demand share, and seventh place in demand share for digital originals in the United States. Paramount+ is succeeding in driving high demand for its slate of original programming on average, but the volume of programming is not enough to make them a bigger player in the streaming space.