ViacomCBS multi-year deal with Sky brings Paramount+ to Europe
Another day, another deal in the VOD (Video on Demand — see our guide) world, as Sky brings Paramount+ to its ever evolving portfolio. It looks like good news for everybody (there are details): more content for Sky, European market for Paramount and more content for customers. We’ll cover some details.
Sky brings Paramount+ content to Europe in detail
Let’s start with customers (the press release starts with business — it’s aimed at investors / money people we suspect):
> The deal starts in 2022 and covers UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria
> It brings over 10,000 hours of content
> Sky Cinema subscribers will get the bonus of Paramount+ included at no additional cost
> Paramount Pictures’ feature films will remain available on Sky Cinema in the UK and will join Sky Cinema in Germany and Italy in 2022
> All other customers can subscribe to add Paramount+ to their account.
Paramount gets a larger audience in a new territory, and Sky gets more people on their Sky Cinema package or taking the new content as an add-on. Existing Sky Cinema customers win (for now) but we suspect price rises in the future have been factored in.
What is the new content?
Here’s the summary:
Titles that will become available through 2022 in the UK, Ireland, Italy and GSA include a collection of scripted, exclusive Paramount+ Originals and exciting new takes on iconic franchises, including HALO, The Offer and the new iCarly series. As the international home of SHOWTIME, the service will offer The Man Who Fell to Earth, Ripley, Super Pumped, and American Gigolo, in addition to popular titles from ViacomCBS, such as Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years, Star Trek: Prodigy, and MTV Unplugged.
The service will also feature a collection of new movie premieres and fan favorites from Paramount Pictures such as films from the Mission Impossible and Transformer franchises.
It’s clear Sky is becoming increasingly placed to be a major European player in the VOD market, and we look forward to further developments. We suspect this isn’t the end of the news, and there is more to come this year.