• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, September 21, 2021

ViacomCBS has officially launched a bundle combining its Showtime and Paramount+ streaming services.

Showtime and the ad-supported Paramount+ "essential" plan are available for the introductory price of $9.99 per month, and Showtime and the ad-free "premium" plan for an introductory price of $12.99 per month.

The ad-free tier of Paramount+ includes both local and national news coverage with CBSN and CBS live, whereas the ad-supported  plan includes only national news with CBSN. The premium plan also has more sports coverage, and support for offline downloads.

Naveen Chopra, ViacomCBS's executive vice president and CFO, mentioned the planned launch of the Showtime/Paramount+ bundle during a Bank of America media conference last week.

Chopra noted that the company's streaming strategy is built around having free, pay and premium components via Pluto TV, Paramount+ and Showtime.

The strategy "unlocks incremental value" by enabling broad reach combined with bundling, sampling and cross-promotion opportunities among the services, he said.