Stan and Foxtel will face more competition for content and subscribers from the second half of the year thanks to the overhaul of Network Ten’s under-the-radar subscription service.
Ten’s American owner, ViacomCBS, has confirmed that 10 All Access will rebrand in August. The platform currently screens CBS shows such as NCIS and The Good Fight, alongside programs from Ten including The Bachelor Australia.
A Paramount+ billboard in the United States. The service is launching in Australia in August.Credit:Getty
Paramount+, which is already available overseas, will consume Ten’s existing subscription offering and bring with it high-profile films and television shows from channels Showtime and Nickelodeon and studio Paramount Pictures. Showtime, Nickelodeon and Paramount are all divisions of ViacomCBS, which bought Ten in 2017.
This means there will be shuffling between streaming platforms of popular titles including Showtime’s Dexter, which will be removed from Stan (owned by Nine, the owner of the masthead) so it can be available exclusively on Paramount+. The gory series starring Michael C. Hall is due to return to screens later this year with a 10-episode reboot.
Some shows that were still in production when Stan signed multi-year content deals with Showtime, including Billions, will remain on Stan. Former Nine chief executive Hugh Marks has previously said no single output deal would “make or break Stan”.
Foxtel is expected to continue to air Nickelodeon shows including Spongebob Squarepants, but the movie prequel Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years will be exclusive to Paramount+.
Films from Paramount Pictures including The Godfather, Shrek and Transformers will still be found on rival streaming services given movie deals are not often exclusive. Paramount+ will, however, have first dibs on Paramount’s new movies, including the forthcoming A Quiet Place sequel.
The Dexter reboot will be available exclusively on Paramount+.
The reshuffling reflects why both Stan and Foxtel were eager to sign a multi-million dollar deal with WarnerMedia, the company behind successful HBO shows including Game of Thrones and Big Little Lies, 12 months ago. Both companies have also been investing in sport and local drama.
Local streaming services were previously able to rely on content deals with US studios but now those businesses – including Disney – have launched their own streaming services and brought much of their content in-house. Netflix has also been investing in original content but due to its scale it is expected to be more sheltered from changing content deals and any subscriber crunch.
Paramount+ will cost $8.99 a month when it launches, which is cheaper than the most basic subscriptions for Netflix ($10.99), Stan ($10), Disney+ ($11.99) and Foxtel Now ($25). However, it is more expensive than Amazon Prime, which costs $6.99 a month.
An estimated 17.3 million Australians - just over 80 per cent of the population - watched at least one subscription TV service last year, according to market research company Roy Morgan. Netflix is by far the most popular service, followed by Foxtel and Stan.
ViacomCBS’s head of Australian content Bev McGarvey said Paramount+ would be a “powerful player” .
“Viewers of streaming services want strong content and for it to be replenished,” she said. “We have our own content ... third-party content and local content. So that’s what makes us special. We’re not expecting for one minute that people will unsubscribe from Netflix. But we know Australians love their streaming services and have the appetite for a few.”
Paramount+ has pledged investment in Australian content. Local drama Last King of the Cross, comedy series Spreadsheet and a coming-of-age feature film called 6 Festivals will soon commence production.
“We want to be able to use Paramount+ to tell strong Australian stories,” McGarvey said. “And strong Australian stories that play better on SVOD [subscription video-on-demand] than they do on our linear service [Network Ten].
“The role Network Ten plays is actually really critical. As a network we have a reach of 10 million to 12 million a month. So we can let that audience know we have a new service coming.”
In America, Paramount+ subscribers have access to sports as well as entertainment. Will Paramount+ be chasing sports rights in Australia?
“I would never say never,” McGarvey said.
Broede Carmody is a culture reporter at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald
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2021-05-06 15:00:00Z
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