Charter Spectrum Paramount Deal Avoids CBS Blackout, Adds Paramount+
At a critical moment for the entertainment company, Paramount Global and cable TV giant Charter Communications have a deal.
Paramount, which owns CBS, Paramount+, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, Nickelodeon and other brands, has cut a deal with Charter that will keep its networks available for Charter customers, and make Paramount+ available to Charter’s TV subscribers free of charge, as well as BET+ essential.
Later this year, Paramount+ Essential and BET+ Essential will become available across Spectrum TV Select packages and Mi Plan Latino customers through the Xumo Stream Box or any other Paramount+ supported device.
The Paramount+ with Showtime plan will continue to be available at no cost for Spectrum’s Paramount+ with Showtime linear customers as well.
The consequences of the talks with Charter are significant, with a possible extended blackout impacting Paramount’s carriage and advertising revenue (Charter is the largest pay-TV provide in the U.S. with 14.1 million video subs).
And the deal comes at a pivotal moment for the company, which ousted CEO Bob Bakish on April 29, with a trio of executives handling CEO duties in his place.
Charter has been playing hardball with its content providers ever since last year’s Disney blackout, with TelevisaUnivision following the entertainment giant in making its streaming services available to TV subs.
A short-term deal will give Charter its big ask, while giving Paramount executives some flexibility as they develop a strategy … and a potential sale.
