• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 11 hours ago

Major premium cable channel brands are being adjusted to the streaming world. And then re-adjusted.

The latest is the brand "Showtime." Paramount Global is dropping the name “Showtime” on one streaming option -- that of the advertising-free service, now to be called Paramount+ Premium. It had been called "Paramount+ with Showtime."

Paramount+ Premium will continue to have a $12.99-a-month price tag. The company’s sister streaming option -- Paramount+ Essential -- is a lower-cost, ad-supported tier priced at $7.99.

But this change becomes a bit more complicated.

On the support page for the Paramount+ website, the company does say Showtime programming content remains on the streaming option.

To make matters somewhat more confusing, the name Paramount+ with Showtime (as a streaming service) will still be around -- as "on your cable, satellite, or live TV streaming service”. The latter such as on virtual pay TV provider Hulu+Live TV.

Both Showtime and Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO have been some of the most recognizable cable TV brands for decades, signifying “premium” cable TV programming;. These network groups continue to run content advertising-free.

These premium channel owners are not ready to give up promotional appeals of both; HBO and Showtime will still represent major quality/premium TV shows and movies -- especially to older TV consumers.

For its part, WBD recently decided to have a change of heart.

It is bringing back the HBO name to its "Max" streaming service, now to be called "HBO Max" again. HBO Max originally launched in 2020 and changed to "Max" in 2023, following the merger of Warner Media and Discovery Inc. to reflect a wider range of programming content.

Now, this summer, HBO Max returns, all to emphasize the HBO name representing premium programming.

In a more mature marketplace where rapidly rising subscriptions have slowed down, one can see why legacy media companies under financial stress need to stand out in a bigger way -- talking up quality, must-have programming -- to keep consumers from "churning" their streaming platforms; the dropping and then adding streamers month-to-month.

So what do we make from all of this? It seems that at least Paramount Global has a sense that the word “premium” is more important than the word ‘Showtime’ when it comes to its priciest streaming service.

Still, it is hedging its bet that Showtime has some longtime value via legacy ways of getting the streaming service -- cable, satellite, telco and virtual pay TV providers.

Does this make sense?