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Walmart announced Monday that Walmart+ members will receive a subscription to the entertainment streaming service, Paramount+ for free, starting in September.
The bundle gives Walmart+ subscribers access to Paramount+’s Essential Plan, which includes access to exclusive content such as Star Trek, 1883, Halo, The Good Fight, and more. However, Walmart shoppers will miss out on access to their local CBS station and have to endure ads.
The deal makes financial sense for potential Walmart+ and Parmount+ subscribers. The essential tier of Paramount+ costs $4.99 a month, and Walmart+ costs $12.95 a month. For comparison, the premium tier of Parmount+ costs $9.99 each month. It’s unclear if Walmart+ customers can upgrade their included Paramount+ membership.
News of the alliance came just a week after the New York Times reported that Walmart was looking into potential deals with Disney, Comcast, and Paramount to increase the value of their retail subscription service.
The two mammoth companies are both facing headwinds for their respective subscription services. Walmart+ competes directly against Amazon Prime, while Paramount+ faces multiple foes in the streaming space, including Netflix and Disney+.
While the bundle delivers value to both companies and their customers, it seems that Paramount is getting the better half of the deal. While Paramount+ has more subscribers than Walmart+, the latter is the only online outlet that can rival the retail power of Amazon.
Paramount has struggled in the streaming wars since Paramount+’s progenitor, CBS All Access, launched in 2017. As of July, Paramount Plus had 62 million subscribers. The Walmart deal will add more than 11 million to that number. In contrast, Netflix has over 200 million subscribers.
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