Get ready to add yet another streaming service to your already sky-high streaming budget — honestly, at this point should we all just agree to get cable? On Wednesday, February 25, ViacomCBS revealed it’s throwing its hat into the ring competing with HBO Max, Netflix, Hulu, and Apple TV. “The company’s transformed subscription video on-demand and live streaming service, CBS All Access, will be rebranded as Paramount+ in early 2021 as part of the service’s expansion to feature content from ViacomCBS’ leading portfolio of broadcast, news, sports, and entertainment brands,” a release reads.
“Paramount is an iconic and storied brand beloved by consumers all over the world, and it is synonymous with quality, integrity and world-class storytelling,” said Bob Bakish, President and CEO, ViacomCBS in a press release announcing the launch. “With Paramount+, we’re excited to establish one global streaming brand in the broad-pay segment that will draw on the sheer breadth and depth of the ViacomCBS portfolio to offer an extraordinary collection of content for everyone to enjoy.”
Now here’s the thing: Paramount+ will be home to a couple of major revivals certain millennial fans have been waiting for: Frasier and Rugrats, both with their original casts. Now, for anyone who is younger than a Millennial, Frasier was a 1990s TV comedy series, starring Kelsey Grammer as a snobbish radio advice-show host. It was a spinoff from the TV series Cheers, and was one of the most successful shows of the 1990s, winning five Emmy Awards for best comedy series. It ran from 1993 to 2004. Rugrats, the celebrated Nickelodeon animated series, originally aired from 1991-2004 with funny yet surprisingly mature storylines, a fantastic musical score, and that weirdly-cute reptile named Reptar. The cartoon will use a new CG animation thought in the update. Obviously, people are excited.
“The response from consumers in just the early weeks of the service’s expansion already illustrates the tremendous opportunity ahead of us in bringing these phenomenal ViacomCBS brands together in one premium streaming home under the new Paramount+ name,” said Marc DeBevoise, Chief Digital Officer, ViacomCBS and President & Chief Executive Officer, ViacomCBS Digital. “With the addition of even more content from across the portfolio as well as the new exclusive originals we are announcing today, we look forward to the early 2021 rebrand and bringing existing and new subscribers more of the compelling, genre-spanning live sports, breaking news, and mountain of entertainment ViacomCBS has to offer.”
