- Paramount+ is looking to replace the “Limited Commercials” plan with an “Essential” tier that’s even cheaper.
- The new plan will essentially be the same thing but without access to the local CBS channel.
- The availability date was set to June 7, 2021, and Paramount+ will also offer an annual payment option that saves another 16%.
Paramount+, the streaming platform that was launched last March by ViacomCBS, has announced a plan to add a new low-cost tier called “Essential,” which will replace the existing “Limited Commercials” plan. The cost of the Essential plan is set to $4,99 per month, and it’s going to be made available on June 7, 2021, or in a couple of days, if you prefer. If paid for a full year, the total cost drops to $49.99, so it’s like getting two months for free.
The options of this new plan will be the following:
- Stream with limited commercial interruptions
- Watch 30,000+ episodes and movies on demand
- Access Paramount+ Originals and more exclusive programming
- Stream NFL on CBS and Champions League live*
- Get 24/7 national news with CBSN
- No local, live CBS channel
So, in summary, compared to the “Commercial Free” plan that costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 a year, this one won’t have the CBS channel, isn’t offering a download option for viewing content offline, doesn’t include extra sports like PGA golf and NCAA basketball games, and will push some ads here and there. If you can live with all that, it is an amazing new option that can help you save some money.
If you are already a subscriber of the “Limited Commercials” plan, which is being phased out, the introduction of the new plan will not affect you in any way. Your plan’s price and billing dates will remain the same - it’s just that this plan will no longer be available to new subscribers. So if you want to drop to the lower-cost plan, you can only do it by canceling your current subscription and picking the “Essential.” The only thing that you’ll miss in terms of content access is your local CBS channel.
This is definitely a good competitive move from a streaming platform that wants to play at the same league as the “big guys,” especially when considering that it’s typically added on top of the subscription cost of established options like Netflix and Amazon Prime. People who want to give Paramount+ a try and see what it has to offer have just had the entrance bar lowered.
If you reside outside the U.S. but you want to give the new streaming platform a go, check out this step-by-step guide on how to do it.