ViacomCBS (VIAC) to Launch SkyShowtime in Europe With Comcast
ViacomCBS VIAC and Comcast CMCSA have announced a partnership to launch a new streaming service called SkyShowtime that will be available in 20 European markets, including Spain, Denmark, Portugal, the Nordic countries, Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe.
The service will include 10,000+ hours of content from NBCUniversal, Sky and ViacomCBS, including popular titles from SHOWTIME, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, Paramount+ Originals, Sky Studios, NBCUniversal, Universal Pictures and Peacock.
The streaming service's wide palette of quality content will cover all genres and categories, including drama, children and family, famous classics, premieres, local programs, documentaries, and others.
ViacomCBS and Comcast plan for the service to launch in 2022, pending regulatory approval. SkyShowtime will be set up as a joint venture between Comcast and ViacomCBS, giving them equal control. Other details, including pricing, will be announced at a later date.
ViacomCBS Inc. Price and Consensus
ViacomCBS Inc. price-consensus-chart | ViacomCBS Inc. Quote
Expanding Portfolio of Streaming Services Bodes well for ViacomCBS
Industry leaders including Netflix NFLX and Disney DIS are looking for growth opportunities internationally as the U.S. market saturates. ViacomCBS is set to launch Peacock in major European markets using Comcast’s Sky platform to increase Peacock subscribers.
Later this year, the free, ad-supported version of Peacock would be available at no additional cost to nearly 20 million Sky customers in the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, Austria and Switzerland.
ViacomCBS Networks International has also entered into a new multi-year distribution agreement with Sky to launch Paramount+ in the same European markets as a part of its efforts to expand Paramount+ by the end of 2022.
An expanding content catalogue of live sporting events, and a solid portfolio of streaming services (both advertising and subscription-based offerings), including CBS All Access, Showtime OTT, Pluto TV, Noggin and BET+, are expected to aid viewership growth and ad revenues for ViacomCBS.
This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company has more 42.4 million global streaming subscribers, while NBC Universal's streaming service, Peacock, has over 20 million active monthly users. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Moreover, Pluto TV has gained immense popularity with more than 250 live linear channels and thousands of hours of on-demand content. Pluto TV partners with more than 175 content providers including media houses, film and TV studios that help it to produce a variety of content.
Global expansion and domestic growth helped global Pluto TV MAUs reach 52.3 million in the second quarter 2021.
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