Paramount+ will raise its subscription prices in the U.S. starting early 2026. The platform will increase rates by around $1-2 per month for its ad-supported and ad-free tiers. At the same time, it’s also ending the free trial option for new subscribers.
The company says the changes are meant to help fund more content and better user experience, especially following its content deals and internal restructuring. Although, these changes will make paramount+ get more to watch.
The price hike was announced at the company's earnings report. The subscription prices increment was also announced for customers in Australia and Canada. The exact new prices haven’t been disclosed, but increases of about one or two dollars per month have become the usual adjustment.
If you can recall, Paramount+ last price hike was in June 2024. We've seen that it's become inevitable for most digital entertainment companies to increase prices every year or two. This has become common practice for most of these companies, and paramount is even going further to eliminate its free trials.
However, it's important to talk about why Paramount+ is hiking subscription prices this time. The adjustments seem to follow the company's financial reevaluation.
The company’s strategy to boost long-term profitability involves moving away from certain bundled or low-margin subscription deals, cutting back on investments in international regions that lack strong growth potential, discontinuing free trials, and reassessing its discount offerings.
These changes come in the wake of Skydance’s $8 billion acquisition of Paramount earlier this year—a deal that secured regulatory approval following some controversial interactions involving Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr.
When Paramount Global and Skydance Media sought approval for their roughly $8 billion merger, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr insisted the deal would only move forward if Skydance committed to “a diversity of viewpoints across the political and ideological spectrum” in their news-and-entertainment operations, and if it eliminated certain diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
The approval followed a period of intense scrutiny, including a $16 million settlement by Paramount with former President Donald Trump over alleged biased editing of a 60 Minutes interview, and sparked criticism that the FCC was placing ideological conditions on editorial operations of a major media company.
