Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Monday, June 24th, 2024

The Paramount+ rate hike doesn't mean what you think it means

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Monday, June 24th, 2024:

THE NEW PARAMOUNT+ PRICE INCREASE DOESN'T MEAN WHAT YOU THINK IT DOES
Paramount+ announced on Monday that it is raises prices for its various tiers beginning in August. And because Showtime is somewhat integrated at this point, the result is a dizzying number of options:

The price of the ad-free Paramount+ With Showtime plan will increase by $1, to $12.99 per month. The Paramount+ Essential plan (with ads) will increase by $2, to $7.99 per month for all new subscribers. The new pricing will be effective starting Aug. 20 for all new Paramount+ customers.

For existing Paramount+ With Showtime subscribers, the new price will go into effect with their next billing date on or after Sept. 20. Existing monthly subscribers to Paramount+ Essential will continue to receive their subscription at the current price of $5.99 — and pricing of annual subscription plans for both tiers will remain unchanged (Paramount+ With Showtime is $119.99/year; Paramount+ Essential is $59.99/year), according to the company. Meanwhile, current subscribers with the legacy Paramount+ Limited Commercial plan will see their price increase by $1, to $7.99 per month.

Now given that Paramount+ has one of the highest churn rates of the major streamers and that it continues to struggle add new subscribers, raising prices might seem quite counterintuitive. And while I think the idea overall is not a wise one, the way it is structured provides a hint about what sort of consumer behavior they are attempting to encourage.

Basically, if you have the terribly named Paramount+ With Showtime, the price will go up by $1 per month, unless you opt for an annual subscription. The cost of the Paramount+ Essential plan (with ads) will increase by $2 per month, unless you subscribe by August 22nd. 

The way this is structured suggests that Paramount isn't making this move in order to generate direct new revenue. Instead, it's an effort to move subscribers to an annual plan, which would presumably lower churn. It also raises the base rate for new subscribers, which would make the platform's new bundling efforts seem like an even better deal.

BARRY DILLER'S IDEAS ARE NOT GOING TO SAVE STREAMING
Over the weekend, James P. Stewart and Benjamin Mullin of the NY Times had an expansive look at the future of streaming TV (gift link). There isn't much new, especially if you've spent any time at all paying attention to what is going on in the industry. But it's a nice overview of the challenges and it certainly is a fine way for civilians to get a better handle on the overall issues.

The piece opens and closes with comments from Barry Diller's 156-foot yacht, as he ponders the challenges for the industry with John Malone and Brian Roberts. So, an 83-year-old, an 82-year-old and the son of the founder of Comcast? With all due respect to the trio, these are executives who have made a lot a lot of money in the television industry and have helped make the linear TV business model a cash cow.

But reading these comments, as well as ones I've seen elsewhere, just illustrates that these executives don't have a clear vision on how to improve their streaming businesses. They are flailing around in a way that manages to not help their bottom line while standing in the way of the innovation required to build a successful business:

But Mr. Diller, like many of the other executives interviewed for this article, sees a path forward for streaming companies once they stop trying to be Netflix. (That’s the strategy already adopted by Mr. Roberts of Comcast.)

The focus, according to Mr. Diller, needs to be on what “has been true since the beginning of time.”

The business, he said, “is based on hit programming, making a program, a movie, a something that people want to see.”

So until now they’ve been purposely creating things people *don’t* want to see? This is another variation of the evergreen executive argument “we’re going to make fewer things and none of them will suck.”

To be fair, there are some enlightening comments. Including this paragraph from Netflix's Ted Sarandos, which is a pretty straight-forward explanation of why the company sticks with primarily releasing their shows in a binge fashion:

“When you finish ‘Baby Reindeer,’ there’s something else just as good,” he said. “I worry that this notion of these other services, that they have nothing to watch problem, and that once you do a show and then you drag it out over 10 weeks or doing one episode at a time, you still end up in the same place, which is there’s nothing to watch after it.”

Given the number of top industry executives quoted in the story, I wish the NY Times had opted to do a series of stand-alone interviews, rather than spending hours speaking with executives only to include a quote or two in a larger state of the industry piece. Take, for instance, this brief comment from Jason Kilar:

Jason Kilar, the founding Hulu chief executive and former chief executive of WarnerMedia, has called for an even more radical approach than bundling: a new company that would license movies and TV shows from the major studios and pay back close to 70 percent of the revenue to those studios.

“I’ll call it the ‘Spotify for Hollywood’ path, where a large number of suppliers and studios contribute to a singular experience that delights fans,” Mr. Kilar said. “The studios would be the ones that would be taking the majority of the economic returns from such a structure.”

I have SO many questions about this idea. And while I'm not convinced that it could happen at this late point, it is perhaps the lone "thinking out of the box" moment in the interview. 

This isn't a bad piece. But like most NY Times long profile pieces, it feels more like a history recap than an effort to learn something new.

ODDS AND SODS
* FX announced on Monday that it is moving up The Bear‘s season three premiere. Originally scheduled for midnight ET on Thursday, June 27th, the entire 10-episode season will now release three hours earlier, at 9 pm ET on Wednesday, June 26th.

* Weigel Broadcasting-owned MeTV Toons, a 24-hour free diginet focused on classic animation, launches tomorrow. The network describes itself as airing the "very best of classic animation, from Hollywood-era shorts to made-for-television favorites," and based on their line-up, it's the TCM of classic cartoons. The premiere schedule includes around 60 different series, including The Flintstones, Inspector Gadget, The Jetsons, Bugs Bunny, The Woody Woodpecker Show, Tom and Jerry, The Smurfs, Wacky Races, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Scooby-Doo, Casper, Top Cat, Speed Racer and more. Including my personal favorite, The Peter Potamus Show. 

The network is available at launch in most major markets as an over-the-air network. It can also be found on min-vMVPDs Frndly and Philo.

* Byron Allen‘s Allen Media Group has announced it will simulcast Thursday's presidential debate on TheGrio Television Network, as well as its FAST channel. TheGrio’s coverage will include pre and post-debate specials programmed under the title Black America Must Vote.

* The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from Josh Duggar, a former reality television star convicted of downloading child sexual abuse images. TLC canceled 19 Kids and Counting in 2015 following allegations that Duggar had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter years earlier. Authorities began investigating but concluded that the statute of limitations on any possible charges had expired.

* MSNBC announced today that it will be presenting an in-person, interactive experience called "MSNBC Live: Democracy 2024,'' which will take place Saturday, September 7th in Brooklyn.

WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW

MONDAY, JUNE 24TH:
* Breakin' On The One (Hulu)
* Next Baking Master: Paris Season One Finale (Food)
* POV: King Coal (PBS)
* Rachael Ray In Tuscany Series Premiere (fyi)

TUESDAY, JUNE 25TH:
* Babylon Berlin Season Four Premiere (MHz Choice)
* CMA Fest (ABC)
* Diane von Furstenberg: Woman In Charge (Hulu)
* High Speed Chase Season Premiere (Investigation Discovery)
* I Am: Celine Dion (Prime Video)
* Kaulitz & Kaulitz Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Late Night Lockup Season Premiere (Investigation Discovery)
* One South: Portrait Of A Psych Unit (HBO)
* TikTok Star Murders (Peacock)

SEE YOU ON TUESDAY!