Paramount+ helped drive strong quarter for ViacomCBS
ViacomCBS announced strong first quarter results led by subscriber growth for Paramount+ and Showtime, growing by 6 million to 36 million subs with streaming revenue up 65%. Nickelodeon kids’ content was a key driver in sign-ups led by Spongebob Squarepants and iCarly for Paramount+ while originals led the way for Showtime. The company’s AVOD platform, Pluto TV, also experienced increased engagement with over six million more monthly active users. The service now has nearly 50 million global monthly users. And, starting in 2022, there will be one new movie a week released on Paramount+.
The NPD Take:
- Paramount+ is casting a broad content offering which is helping the service become established among the deep array of competitive streaming services.
- All SVOD competition will be facing a more challenging 2H as consumers return to pre-pandemic habits and rationalize their home entertainment spending.
Amazon FireTV to power Jeep entertainment
Starting with model year 2022, Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer will come with Amazon FireTV for auto. It will include entertainment options from Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and Twitch. The service will be available on seatback screens and a front passenger screen. Drivers will be able to view content on the central touchscreen when in park. The feature will also come with an Alexa enabled Amazon remote.
The NPD Take:
- Thus, begins the next frontier, the 3rd viewing space (home+mobile+car), keeping entertainment available everywhere viewers are likely to watch.
- Expect to see other integrated auto solutions over the coming years as data plans better support streaming video and more OEM partnerships develop.
Xperi changes direction on OTT deployment
In response to competitive pressures from Google TV, Xperi has announced plans to skip ahead in its phased plan to integrate TiVO technology directly into smart TVs. Previously, Xperi was looking to have a phased roll-out of OTT capabilities starting with the TiVO Streaming 4K dongle which debuted last spring, then as a UX app that sits on top of an Android TV platform before finally becoming a TV OS. However, Google launched Google TV, a UX layer on top of Android TV, that is largely similar to the TiVo offering. As such, TiVo will be accelerating plans to directly integrate as an OS on Smart TVs.
The NPD Take:
- Google basically did what third parties were doing with the base Android TV platform, turning those UX benefits into table stakes.
- There is a decreasing number of TV OEMs with a need for an operating system, at the same time that there are an increasing number of options. In addition to existing options from Roku, Amazon and Google, Xfinity and now TiVo will be coming to market with alternatives.