• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, October 24, 2023

Paramount Global’s Paramount+ flagship streamer will launch a premium tier in Australia, Canada, Brazil and Mexico on Nov. 16, and an advertising tier in Australia, Canada and other “select” international markets starting in 2024.

In Mexico and Brazil, where Paramount+ launched a mobile tier in April, the streamer will continue to offer the mobile option tier instead of an advertising tier.

The premium tier — which is also planned for other markets, though no details were offered — offers programming in 4K UHD, HDR10 and Dolby Vision formats and concurrent use of four streams, rather than the two that come with its standard plan.

“After expanding our footprint to more than 45 markets last year, we are focused on scaling our business and providing customer choice,” said Marco Nobili, executive vice president and international general manager for Paramount+, in the announcement.

“Following the launch of the mobile plan in Mexico and Brazil, the introduction of the premium and ad-supported plans will give us the ability to better serve different consumer segments by providing multiple pricing options while also tapping into tremendous opportunities among our advertising and brand partners.”

The premium tier’s monthly fees will be $13.99 AUD in Australia, $R 34.90 in Brazil, C$13.99 in Canada and $179 MXN in Mexico.

In the U.S., Paramount offers the Paramount Essential plan with “limited” ads at $5.99 per month (raised by $1 in June), and Paramount+ With Showtime, with ads only in live programming and “a few” shows, for $11.99 per month. The with-Showtime plan replaced the Paramount+ premium ad-free, $9.99-per-month plan.

Paramount reported adding 700,000 Paramount+ subscribers globally in Q2 2023, following the Showtime integration in June, for a total of 61 million globally — up from 60 million in Q1. In Q2 2022, Paramount+ added 5 million subscribers.

Paramount Global’s total revenue declined 2.2%, to $7.6 billion, in Q2, but revenue from its bundled streaming business rose 40% year-over-year, subscription revenue was up 50% due to price increases, and ad revenue was up 21%, to $441 million.

The new premium plan for international markets will be available on the Paramount+ app on Apple iOS, Apple tvOS, Amazon Fire, Google, Roku and Samsung at launch, with LG, VIDAA/ Hisense, Xbox and Amazon Prime Video coming online in 2024.