by Thinus Ferreira
With the rebranding of ViacomCBS into Paramount, ViacomCBS Networks Africa will now be known simply as Paramount Africa, with Paramount Africa saying it's looking forward to launching the Paramount+ video streaming service across the continent in 2023 that will help it to reach even bigger audiences than through traditional pay-TV alone.
With Paramount looking to rapidly expand its Paramount+ streaming service globally, South Africa is now on the priority list for the streamer, with South Africans who will get access to Paramount+ next year as the next global streaming service after the launch of The Walt Disney Company's Disney+ streamer anytime from June this year.
South African consumers already have a growing access choice of over-the-top (OTT) streaming services ranging from Netflix SA and Amazon Prime Video, to MultiChoice Showmax, VIU, Apple TV+, Vodacom's Video Play, eMedia's eVOD and some smaller players.
Discovery+, WarnerMedia's HBO Max and NBCUniversal's Peacock have not yet launched in South Africa or made any announcements about expanding into South Africa or the sub-Saharan Africa region.
Paramount, which distributes TV channels like MTV, BET Africa, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon to pay-TV operators like MultiChoice's DStv and sells American series like Billions to pay-TV channels like M-Net (DStv 101), now see a new opportunity to go directly to consumers with its own streaming service.
A raft of new content has been commissioned specifically for Paramount+, like the video game adaptation Halo that will launch on the streamer on 24 March but which will not be accessible to South African viewers except through pirate viewing.
"We see a huge global opportunity in streaming, a much larger potential
market than can be captured by linear TV and film alone," Bob Bakish, Paramount president and CEO said last week at Paramount's latest investors' presentation where the ViacomCBS to Paramount name change was announced.
"We're broader in four key areas: our diverse content, streaming model, 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."
Craig Paterson, Paramount Africa senior vice president and general manager, says "The continued global expansion to bring Paramount+ to Africa by 2023
underscores the importance of the stories we create, which are only as powerful
as the audiences they reach".
"Paramount+ has established itself as a leading
brand in the industry in less than a year, and will strengthen the traditional
business and allow greater opportunity for collaboration and growth."
"This is an
exciting time for the Africa business, and our future streaming plans across
multiple platforms will enable us to reach even greater audiences."
About Paramount+, Monde Twala, Paramount Africa's senior vice president, general manager, and peer lead at BET International, says "This pioneering move amplifies our dedication to innovation, collaboration
through partnerships, creativity and global reach".
"It's a great opportunity to
further showcase the power and growth of African content across the markets.
While encapsulating the business objective and growth spectrum of the brand,
the decision also enables us to continue to focus on delivering unique stories
from Africa to the world."
"ViacomCBS Networks Africa, now Paramount
Africa, will
have the impetus to go forward in delivering on driving social change, diverse
entertainment content creation and global format production partnerships."
Editor's note: In South Africa, Paramount has now started to use the Vuma Reputation Management PR firm to do its corporate communications.
