• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, January 19, 2021

ViacomCBS’s relaunch of its CBS All Access streamer, the expanded service rebranded as Paramount+, will debut on March 4 in the United States, the company announced.

The launch dates, which have been kept under wraps to build interest, also include a March 4 launch in Latin America; a March 25 launch in the Nordic countries; and a mid-2021 launch in Australia.

In Canada, CBS All Access will be rebranded to Paramount+ as of March 4, but the expanded content won’t be available until later in the year.

ViacomCBS built up CBS All Access's content portfolio over the course of 2020, in preparation for the relaunch.

CBS All Access, which charges $6 per month for its ad-supported tier and $10 for its ad-free one, was among the first direct-to-consumer streamers, and has differentiated itself with a mix of live, local and on-demand content offerings, including NFL and Champions League coverage, originals and a large library of TV series and movies. 

The service will offer more than 30,000 episodes and movies from that library by early 2021.

“As the first network to market with a branded direct-to-consumer service more than five years ago, we have the advantage and experience of building [CBS All Access] from the ground up, establishing distribution points across all major platforms, creating a service with high user engagement and low churn, and crafting a robust slate of exclusive originals from which we continue to build,” ViacomCBS digital chief Marc DeBevoise said last July. "By bringing the valuable IP and creative capabilities from across ViacomCBS together in one product, we will deliver to consumers a compelling and differentiated service with something for everyone across news, live sports and on-demand entertainment in every genre.”

ViacomCBS is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2020 results on Feb. 24.