With the recent reunion of Viacom and CBS as ViacomCBS, it was natural that the latter’s streaming services, CBS All Access, be revamped now that more media content from the former has become available. The result is that next month All Access will be renamed as Paramount+, now bearing the name of Viacom’s film studio. It will boast a vastly expanded streaming library, from old programming to new premieres, newscasts and sporting events, plus its own exclusive original content. What has not been revealed however was how much it will cost to subscribe to Paramount+. This question was finally answered.

Tech Crunch tells us that Paramount+ now has its official subscription rates revealed for public information, ahead of its formal launch on March 4, when it takes the name from the original of CBS Access. In addition to the rebranding and upcoming new content, Paramount+ will also begin expanding from its base service area in the US, Canada and Australia (there called 10 All Access as a collaborative effort with Network 10). Furthermore, the fate of the existing CBS All Access subscribers has been revealed, and luckily they will be included in the brand transition next month via grandfather clause.

The most important fact about Paramount+ as shared by ViacomCBS in their virtual investor event February 24, was the available subscription pricing. For basic access that includes advertising, the platform offers a monthly fee of $4.99 (US ads), but will only launch in June. The subscription tier that will be available on launch day is the premium pack, ad-free for $9.99 monthly, but will also include CBS live news, and the CBS TV channel. The current CBS All Access monthly subscription rate is $5.99, only a dollar more than the Paramount+ with-ads tier, though they will keep this rate upon transitioning to Paramount+, until the $4.99 version arrives in June.

With a combined ViacomCBS content library that is said to include 30,000 individual TV series episodes and around 2,500 films, Paramount+ is not shy about taking on the rising company-exclusive streaming services like Disney+. They are also beginning development on original programming, notably trying to revive some of the more memorable movies from Paramount Pictures in the last few decades. Reboots of “Pet Semetary” and “Flashdance” among others, joining with the biggest collection of “Star Trek” series and films, or the complete episode run of Dora and Spongebob, give Paramount+ its own significant fan following.

Once Paramount+ opens in the US and Canada, ViacomCBS promises to extend the service area to gradually include Latin America, Australia, and even Nordic Europe.

Image courtesy of CBS