Paramount+ celebrates its one-year anniversary in Australia today. Over the last 12 months, Paramount+ has been Australia’s fastest-growing streaming service and has hosted 981 hours of Australian entertainment content, 734 hours of Australian sport, and has seen 11 Australian commissions announced since its launch.
Since its launch globally, Paramout+ has grown its total subscribers to over 43M, which reflects the addition of 4.9M subscribers and the removal of 1.2M Russian subscribers. Paramount+ also captured the most sign-ups, gross and net subscriber additions of any premium domestic streaming service in the quarter according to Antenna’s June 2022 Report.
At the time of the launch, Daniel Monaghan, SVP content & programming 10 ViacomCBS, said that despite entering a crowded market of streaming platforms in Australia, the one thing that would set Paramount+ apart would be the content on offer.
“It is Paramount, one of the most recognised entertainment brands in film and television in the world. At ViacomCBS we house some of the biggest brand offerings in the world for everyone in the family, from Showtime which is premium scripted to MTV which is guilty pleasure reality TV viewing, and the Nickelodeon brand which is one of the best kids content providers in the world. We are going to have all the CBS content as well and now the Paramount+ originals and Paramount films.
“If you tie that in with the local originals that we will offer straight away from the service what stands out is the breadth of content that appeals to everyone in the family.”
Paramounts+’s Content
Some of the content highlights of Paramount+’s international releases include Halo, 1883, The Lost City, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Jackass Forever, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and the UEFA Champions League.
Paramout+ has also released several Australian originals including Five Bedrooms, Couples Therapy, Spreadsheet, The Secrets She Keeps, More Than This as well as the upcoming The Bridge, 6 Festivals, The Challenge Australia, and The Last King of The Cross.
Earlier this week, Beverley McGarvey, the executive vice president and chief content officer for Paramount ANZ, said that it had been a really good first year.
“We’ve had some of our local content perform well. Things like Five Bedrooms and the football has done really well. We’ve also had that great pipeline of content coming from the US such as 1883 and Halo, but also shows that perform really well such as South Park, Paw Patrol, and NCIS.
“People will come in and they’ll watch 1883 or Halo, and it’s a great 10 episodes but then they go into that content that has a lot of volume. We’ve also got a good movie slate that performs well. That mix of the locals, the international, sport, kids content, and reality content means that it’s quite a full service. It’s not just high-end narrative content, or it’s not just kids, it’s a bit of everything.”
Read more: Beverley McGarvey on the future of content as Paramount+ turns one
One of the most recent Australian Paramount+ Originals was Couples Therapy, when talking to Mediaweek, Sarah Thornton, EP of Couples Therapy Australia and Network 10’s head of popular factual said that the show was “incredibly different to the way you would ordinarily make a documentary.”
“We have a strong interest in prestige reality, and we look for series that we think really fit that bill. Couples Therapy feels pretty unique, and it’s content that I don’t think you can get everywhere.
“When I first watched it, it felt incredibly groundbreaking. The end product feels high end, very unique, and the storytelling is quite different as well. It’s a really interesting watch.”
Stephen Curry, who acted in Paramount+’s Australian Original, Spreadsheet, said that It’s important to have these things where local content can get a run.
“Netflix and Amazon and all those things have been talking about having a lot of local content on their platforms, but not really coming to the party with it. There have been different pieces but not enough. Platforms like this are great because it’s going to increase the number of productions and increase the number of employment for countless people right across the board in front of and behind the lens. Commercial television is going to have less and less interest in paying money for scripted content because they don’t make as much money as they can make out of The Block or whatever. In terms of the future of our actual industry, I think streamers are essential to that.
“I like the idea with the exclusive because then it makes it a destination for people to go to to see original productions. Without them, our industry would have less than half of the productions going on. In terms of our actual survival as an industry, these platforms are integral.”
Paramount+ Marketing Highlights
Paramount+ has had some major advertising moments over the past 12 months, with Paramount blue regularly splashed across billboards, train stations, and bus stops.
Two advertising campaigns have stood out since the launch of the platform. The first was 600 drones making history over Sydney Harbour. For one night only, Paramount+ partnered with Vivid Sydney 2022 to dazzle audiences with the largest drone and light show ever seen in the Southern Hemisphere.
With the help of SKYMAGIC, Paramount+ transformed the sky into a canvas, as a fleet of 600 choreographed LED-equipped drones shape shifted and synchronised into 3D images and sequences, illustrating some of the streaming service’s stars and scenes.
Paramount+ also created the world’s tallest hologram for a Halo brand campaign as part of a multi-market partnership with Minute Media, Wavemaker, and Kaleida .
The partnership culminated with a 60 feet tall 3D hologram of Halo’s iconic Master Chief: Spartan 117. The 3D hologram was installed at locations in Toronto, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, and Sydney Harbour exclusively for one day on April 17.
The Master Chief hologram was produced for Paramount+ by Minute Media, a global technology and content publisher, in partnership with hologram specialists, Kaleida, and media agency, Wavemaker.
Off the back of this campaign, Halo broke the record for the service’s most-watched series premiere of all-time in the U.S. and internationally.
Whats Next on Paramount+
Paramount+ has several new originals coming up which include Monarch (Sep), Seal Team S6 (Sep), Blood and Treasure (Sep), Walker Independence (Oct), Tulsa King (Nov), Wog Boys (Nov), Teen Wolf (Nov), Wolf Pack (Dec), 1923 (Dec), Flatshare, Ghosts, and Let The Right One In.