In a multi-year agreement with Charter, Paramount, the owner of CBS, Paramount+, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, Nickelodeon, and other brands, ensures that Paramount’s networks remain accessible to Charter customers. Charter’s TV subscribers will also receive access to the Paramount+ “Essential” tier and BET+ Essential for free.
Ray Hopkins, President of U.S. Networks Distribution at Paramount, said, “We are very pleased to renew and expand our long-standing partnership with Charter to provide continued access to Paramount’s leading portfolio of broadcast, entertainment, news and sports brands.”
Furthermore, Paramount+ Essential and BET+ Essential will be included in Spectrum TV Select packages and Mi Plan Latino offerings later this year. These services will be accessible to customers via the Xumo Stream Box or any other device that supports Paramount+. Additionally, with the Showtime plan users will have the option to upgrade to the Paramount+.
Additionally, to its Internet-only customers, Charter has agreed to promote Paramount’s direct-to-consumer products at retail rates and will receive a revenue share from new paid subscriptions and ad-free upgrades as part of the agreement. For Spectrum customers, the Paramount+ with Showtime plan will remain available at no additional cost to those who subscribe to the Paramount+ with Showtime linear service.
Notably, Paramount’s carriage and advertising revenue could have been significantly impacted by a failure to reach an agreement with Charter and the deal comes at a critical point for Paramount, which recently replaced CEO Bob Bakish on April 29 with a trio of executives now handling CEO duties.
Tom Montemagno, Charter’s EVP, Programming Acquisition, said, “From the outset, Paramount has embraced Charter’s goal of evolving the video distribution model, and we have appreciated their willingness to collaborate on a solution that benefits our mutual customers and the video industry as a whole.”
Charter has taken a firm stance in negotiations with its content providers since last year’s Disney blackout. Furthermore, aside from it being a “multi-year” agreement the specific terms of Charter’s recent deal with Paramount have not been disclosed, including the economic breakdown between cable and Paramount+ and the exact duration.