ITV

Tag: Q4 2021

  • ViacomCBS rebrands to Paramount; unveils global expansion plans for Paramount+

    ViacomCBS rebrands to Paramount; unveils global expansion plans for Paramount+

    Mumbai: ViacomCBS has announced that it will rebrand to become Paramount Global effective from 16 February.

    In addition to the name change, the media company has detailed plans to accelerate the global momentum behind Paramount+, unveiling new content, enhanced product offerings and continued international expansion at its investor event.

    “Paramount is an idea: A promise to be the best,” said the non-executive chair of the company’s board of directors Shari Redstone. “That promise has always been at the center of what we aspired to build as the steward of more than a century of cinematic excellence, and with businesses and brands that have defined and redefined entertainment for generation after generation. We have made enormous progress, and I have never been more excited about the future of this company.

     

     

    Paramount+ will make its debut in France as an exclusive bundle with CANAL+ Group giving subscribers immediate access through the country’s largest provider. Paramount+ will also be available on an a la carte and direct-to-consumer basis in the French market.

    With Paramount+ and SkyShowtime, the global media company will have streaming services available in more than 60 markets across the UK, Latin America, Canada, Australia, South Korea, the Caribbean and all major markets in Europe by the end of this year. In 2023, the company will look to Asia, Africa and the Middle East, building on Paramount+’s strong momentum to grow its presence in every region of the world.

    Additionally, Paramount+ subscribers in the US will be able to upgrade their subscription to a bundle that includes the Showtime service through two plans, starting in summer.

    The company added 9.4 million global streaming subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2021 led by Paramount+ to add up to 56 million total subscribers and 84 per cent growth in streaming subscription revenue. Its streaming revenues for the quarter stood at $1.3 billion a growth of 48 per cent year-on-year. Its streaming revenue for 12 months ended on 31 December 2021 stood at $4.19 billion.

    “Paramount’s iconic peak represents a rich history for our company as pioneers in the golden age of Hollywood. Today, as we embrace the Paramount name, we are pioneers of an exciting new future,” said president and chief executive officer Bob Bakish.

    “We see a huge global opportunity in streaming, a much larger potential market than can be captured by linear TV and film alone,” continued Bakish. “We’re excited about our ability to not just compete, but thrive, creating significant value for both consumers and shareholders. How? Because we’re broader in four key areas: our diverse content, streaming model, a mix of platforms and global reach. As we look forward, the size of the opportunity we see is matched only by our ambition to seize it.”

    “We are continuing to leverage our global footprint and long-standing relationships to expand Paramount+ into new markets with enormous potential quickly and economically,” commented president and CEO streaming Tom Ryan.

  • Amazon hikes Prime membership fees in US

    Amazon hikes Prime membership fees in US

    Mumbai: Amazon has hiked the subscription fees for Prime membership in the US. The announcement was made during the fourth quarter financial results for 2021 held on Thursday.  The company has raised annual prices from $119 to $139 and monthly prices from $12.99 to $14.99. 

    This is Amazon’s first price increase in four years and will go into effect on 18 February. However, the hike does not apply to the Amazon standalone Prime Video option that continues to be offered at $8.99 per month. Recently, the company hiked Prime membership fees in India from Rs 999 to Rs 1499.

    When asked whether the company intends to hike prices in other markets, Amazon chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky replied, “We look at the relative price to the customer versus our cost to supply that and the usage and the value that we’re creating for customers. We felt, especially after not raising the price in the United States since 2018 that the time was right to raise it. And we think it’s a much more valuable program today than it was in 2020, let alone 2018. So, other countries, we’ll continue to evaluate every year and nothing else to announce right now.”

    In April 2021, Amazon shared that it had about 200 million Prime members worldwide. While in the fourth quarter, the management team at the company did not share an updated guidance on the number of prime users, Olsavsky said, “On the consumer side, we welcomed millions of new Prime members in both the United States and international during the quarter, while continuing to see consistently high member renewal rates across geographies.”

    Amazon has tripled its original releases since 2018 and will release its anticipated series ‘The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power’ series in September this year. Prime Video debuted 28 local originals internationally including India in the fourth quarter. The OTT platform also saw its strongest viewership for live sports globally during the quarter. Notably, Prime Video made its foray into live sports in India by streaming cricket matches between New Zealand and Bangladesh in the fourth quarter.

  • Netflix ends 2021 with 222 million global subscribers

    Netflix ends 2021 with 222 million global subscribers

    Mumbai: Netflix has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2021. The company reported revenue of $7.7 billion registering a growth of 16 per cent year-on-year.

    The streaming giant added 8.3 million global paid subscribers in Q4 bringing its paid memberships up to 222 million at the end of 2021.

    It reported full year revenue of $30 billion – a growth of 19 per cent year-on-year while operating income of $6.2 billion rose 35 per cent YoY. Netflix added 18 million subscribers in 2021 compared to 37 million subscribers in 2020. The company observed that more than 90 per cent of its paid net adds in 2021 came from outside the US and Canada (UCAN).

    Netflix added 2.6 million paid subscribers from the APAC region with strong growth in both Japan and India. It generated $871 million in revenues from the APAC market with a subscriber base of 32.63 million, and reported 1.2 million paid adds from the UCAN region, 2.5 million from the EMEA region and 1.0 million from LATAM region.  

    “In December, we lowered our prices in India across all four plans. India is fairly unique because pay TV pricing is very low. We believe these new prices will make Netflix more accessible to a broader swath of the population – strengthening our value perception. Our goal is to maximize long term revenue in each of our markets,” it said in a statement.