Would A Paramount+ Peacock Partnership Profoundly Pivot The Streaming Landscape?
Amid the runaway rollercoaster ride that has been the uncertain future of Paramount Global, the triumvirate of current company leadership has reportedly pitched the idea of finding a “strategic partner” for streaming service Paramount+. This comes on the heels of reports earlier this year in which Paramount and Peacock owner Comcast apparently discussed a streaming partnership.
If the office of the CEO (take a shot)— which currently consists of George Cheeks (President and CEO of CBS), Chris McCarthy (President and CEO of Showtime, MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks) and Brian Robbins(President and CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon) — is serious about merging Paramount+ and Peacock beyond the current European joint venture SkyShowtime, what would that actually look like?
Breaking down each individual streamer’s US library by genre over the last four quarters reveals a remarkably similar picture. The two services share seven of their top eight genres in terms of volume of supply, with Paramount+ boasting more adventure programming and Peacock housing more crime content, according to Parrot Analytics’ Content Panorama. Otherwise, Comedy, Drama and Thriller are the top three genres in some form while Action, Romance, Documentary and Family comprise various leading levels of both libraries.
What’s more, both services count more than 50% of their audiences in the 15-31 age range while both also over-index with female viewers. From a content and audience demographic standpoint, there isn’t much expansion opportunity.
Paramount Global has conveyed to investors that streaming losses peaked in 2022 and the direct-to-consumer segment was on track to turn a domestic profit by 2025. Comcast leadership has said that Peacock’s losses peaked in 2023, though there is still no firm timetable for tangible profitability. Despite billions in losses, both streamers have seen consistent growth over the last eight quarters. A combined entity would house more than 100 million worldwide subscribers, or roughly the size of Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max.
The combination of live sports rights between the two services would be notable, especially at a time when the idea of sports bundles such as Venu (Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, Fox) and ESPN’s looming transition to OTT are gaining steam. The continuous feed of linear programming from broadcast networks CBS and NBC would be attractive. Peacock has built an impressive ad-tier that would seamlessly graft onto popular linear programming. Dominating in a specific consumer lane at a reasonable cost could prove effective for both sub-scale streamers and help generate immense cost-savings.
Yet neither Paramount+ nor Peacock has innovated streaming entertainment to a notable degree and content alone is a streaky business. NBC and CBS are declining assets, especially as more and more scripted programming moves to streaming and linear ad sales sink. Major IP across both studios, such as Transformers, Fast & Furious and Jurassic World have shown signs of decline.
A combination of the two streamers would provide improved scale, reach and library volume. But would it solve the consumer pain points related to a fragmented media ecosystem, unreliable discoverability and recommendation systems, poor UX/UI, and the need for more than just on-screen entertainment to maintain a sticky subscription? From the outside looking in, it sounds more like a temporary solution to a long-term problem.
