Paramount Global has likely explored the idea of a bundled product that includes Showtime and Paramount+ with cable and satellite distributors, the company’s top executive said, as it continues to mull over the best way to package its various products for consumers.
“We should have that conversation,” Paramount CEO Bob Bakish said during remarks at an investor conference held by Goldman Sachs. “It’s not like we have made a decision.”
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Paramount might consider discontinuing its Showtime streaming service, in favor of shifting its content to Paramount+. But Bakish suggested the company had not made a commitment to that model, even as it explores all kinds of bundles of its streaming assets. Paramount operates Paramount+ and Showtime, which both hinge on subscribers, and Pluto, which is free and ad-supported.
“I guarantee you our product line will continue to evolve,” he said. “It will continue to get better.”
There is little overlap in the subscriber bases for Showtime and Paramount+, Bakish said, with Paramount+ aiming for broad audiences and Showtime burnishing content that has a little more edge. “It’s a little more coastal, but that’s cool,” he said.
Paramount has already experimented with using the two services to generate more streaming subscribers, packaging the pair for a lower rate.
Media companies should continue to find new ways to package content to generate revenue, he added. “If we weren’t having that conversation, then you should fire all of us,” Bakish said.