VCNI to launch a premium SVOD service for audiences of all ages with a super-sized selection of the best ViacomCBS content
Service will premiere SHOWTIME® exclusively alongside CBS All Access originals
International roll-out from Q1 2021 – priority markets Australia, Latin America, Nordics
Roll-out in parallel with ongoing expansion of free streaming service, Pluto TV
August 6, 2020: London, New York – As announced on the ViacomCBS Q2 Earnings call earlier today, ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI), a division of ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAC), is launching a premium streaming service internationally, appealing to audiences of all ages with a competitively priced and super-sized selection of ‘must-see’ exclusives, premieres and box-sets from ViacomCBS’s much-loved entertainment brands.
The new SVOD service will start its international roll-out early in 2021, offering exclusive premieres of all new SHOWTIME series, including Halo and American Rust. CBS All Access originals will also premiere exclusively on the new service, such as Guilty Party and The Harper House. Building a bespoke content offering in select major territories from launch, the service will also combine movies from Paramount Pictures and premieres and box sets from Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Network, as well as originals from ViacomCBS International Studios in some markets.
The new SVOD service will target on-demand audiences of all ages by combining blockbuster and classic movies, premium scripted series, kids, comedy and entertainment, reality and specialist factual content and will eventually aim to match or exceed other streaming services with a selection of thousands of hours of content in every market.
David Lynn, President and CEO, ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI)
David Lynn, President and CEO of VCNI, commented, “Launching a super-sized premium streaming service will be a game-changer for ViacomCBS and can help us become as powerful a player in international streaming as we are in linear TV. We will market a world-class content offering at a very competitive price, and we’re convinced it will have significant appeal for audiences everywhere and strong growth potential in every market.”
Launch priority will be given in 2021 to fast-growing OTT markets where ViacomCBS has identified the opportunity to become a leader in paid-for streaming based on its competitive position. These include: Australia, where its existing 10 All Access service will be rebranded and significantly expanded; Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil and Mexico; and, the Nordic countries.
ViacomCBS will work with existing distribution partners, as well as new distributors, to market the service to their subscribers, as well as retailing the service D2C.
Making best use of ViacomCBS’s unrivalled TV and film libraries and its global original content pipelines, the service will utilize the technology and platform that powers CBS All Access. The roll-out will be executed using ViacomCBS’s existing international infrastructure, which spans offices in more than 30 countries, to improve cost-efficiency and allow investment to be focused on-screen.
Pierluigi Gazzolo, President, Streaming for VCNI, added: “With more than 200 million new streaming subscriptions due to come online internationally by 2025, we’re very confident we can build a meaningful subscriber base in the next few years. ViacomCBS is one of a very small handful of elite content companies with broad enough content pipelines and deep enough content libraries to lead in all segments of the video entertainment market.”
The international launch of the new streaming service will progress in parallel to the ongoing roll-out of ViacomCBS’s free streaming service, Pluto TV, which recently debuted across Spanish-speaking Latin America countries, following previous launches in the UK and Germany. Having enjoyed phenomenal early growth in Latin America, the service has plans to expand into Brazil and Spain by the end of 2020 and France and Italy in 2021.
Note to editors: ViacomCBS will reveal the brand of this new super-service closer to launch
ViacomCBS Networks International
ViacomCBS Networks International, a unit of ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAC), comprises many of the world’s most iconic entertainment brands, including Network 10, Channel 5, Telefe, Viacom 18, ViacomCBS International Studios, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, Paramount Network and Pluto TV. In addition to offering innovative streaming services and digital video products, ViacomCBS Networks International provides powerful capabilities in production, distribution and advertising solutions for partners on five continents and across more than 180 countries.
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From TheWrap:
ViacomCBS to Launch International Streaming Service in Early 2021
All new Showtime series will debut first on unnamed SVOD platform
ViacomCBS is launching an international streaming service in early 2021, the company announced during its second-quarter earnings call Thursday. All new Showtime series, including the much-anticipated “Halo” adaptation and the upcoming “American Rust,” will debut first on the currently unnamed SVOD (subscriber video on demand) platform, which will first go live in Australia, Latin America, and Nordic countries.
The new service, which will have content for all ages, will require a paid subscription. The international streaming service launch is separate from the upcoming CBS All Access rebrand in the United States, though both are expected to begin in 2021.
CBS All Access originals, including “Guilty Party” and “The Harper House,” will also premiere exclusively on the new streaming service, ViacomCBS said. The new service, which will run off of the CBS All Access platform and technology, will have movies from Paramount Pictures as well as premieres and library material from Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Network.
“The exact product details and pricing, which we haven’t announced, will vary by individual markets,” ViacomCBS president and CEO Bob Bakish said during the company’s Q2 earnings call Thursday. “But broadly speaking, the new service will feature exclusive first-run premieres. We’re going to get those from the slate we’re using with CBS All Access in the U.S., from Showtime, and from ViacomCBS International Studios. Alongside that, we’ll use Paramount movies, box sets from CBS and Viacom Media Networks. If you want to just compare it at a high level to what we’re doing in the U.S., it will be a much more entertainment focused product, it doesn’t really have a material sports lane to it. And it will have an output deal from Showtime, because we don’t operate Showtime Networks outside the United States.”
The premium service’s rollout is timed to the international expansion of ViacomCBS’ free, ad-supporting streaming service, Pluto TV. Pluto plans to expand into Brazil and Spain by the end of 2020, and then to France and Italy in 2021.
“Launching a super-sized premium streaming service will be a game-changer for ViacomCBS and can help us become as powerful a player in international streaming as we are in linear TV,” David Lynn, president and CEO of ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI), said in a press release accompanying the Q2 earnings call. “We will market a world-class content offering at a very competitive price, and we’re convinced it will have significant appeal for audiences everywhere and strong growth potential in every market.”
“With more than 200 million new streaming subscriptions due to come online internationally by 2025, we’re very confident we can build a meaningful subscriber base in the next few years,” Pierluigi Gazzolo, president of streaming for VCNI, added. “ViacomCBS is one of a very small handful of elite content companies with broad enough content pipelines and deep enough content libraries to lead in all segments of the video entertainment market.”
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From Deadline:
ViacomCBS’s “Super-Sized” International Streamer To Premiere Showtime Originals; Service To Launch In Australia, Latin America In Early 2021
ViacomCBS has pulled the curtain back on plans to launch a premium international streaming service, which will premiere new Showtime and CBS All Access originals, and will go live across three big territories in early 2021.
The yet-to-be-named streamer — first announced in May — was discussed on the ViacomCBS second-quarter earnings call on Thursday, with the company drawing up plans to go live in Australia, Latin America (including Argentina, Brazil and Mexico) and the Nordics next year.
ViacomCBS said the service will be “competitively priced” and has ambitions to take on market stalwarts, including Netflix and Amazon. It will cater to viewers of all ages by tapping into Viacom and CBS’s annual content spend of $13BN, as well as their combined archive of 140,000 TV episodes and 40,000 films.
Among the streamer’s lineup will be new originals, such as Showtime’s Halo and American Rust; kids TV series including Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants spin-off Kamp Koral; series like Twin Peaks and Dexter; and classic films. Originals from ViacomCBS International Studios will also feature. ViacomCBS will honor licensing deals with third parties for existing series, such as Billions.
“The aim is to achieve significant growth in what is a rapidly expanding sector,” said David Lynn, president and CEO of ViacomCBS Networks International. He added that the service will supersede CBS All Access in the markets where the streamer already exists, such as Australia, and will complement the ad-funded Pluto. “That twin-track strategy will help differentiate ourselves,” he told Deadline.
The streamer will be built on CBS All Access’ existing technology and platform, which is also being retooled in the U.S. to form a “super service” streamer domestically. Lynn declined to say if the international streamer will share a name with the new U.S. service. “We’ll be announcing the brand closer to launch,” he said.
Lynn would also not be drawn on whether the international streamer will launch in the UK, where ViacomCBS runs ad-funded My5 and Pluto. “Clearly we will be looking at other markets and we do have plans for phase two markets, but I wouldn’t comment on any particular one at this stage,” he said.
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From The Sydney Morning Herald:
ViacomCBS set to unveil Showtime streaming plans for Australia
Network Ten's American owner ViacomCBS is poised to confirm plans to distribute prized Showtime content on its own streaming platform in Australia in a move that could diminish its relationship with Nine Entertainment Co's Stan.
Multiple sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that ViacomCBS will reveal that it will stream Showtime content - which has previously included hit series such as Billions and Homeland - on its Australian platform, currently known as 10 All Access, when chief executive Bob Bakish announces the company's second quarter results overnight.
Stan, which is owned by Nine - also the owner of the Herald, has been negotiating to extend or renew its contract with ViacomCBS for Showtime content after it failed to sign long-term content deals with US studios Disney and WarnerMedia, the owner of premium network HBO.
The looming decision by ViacomCBS means that new shows created by Showtime, the media giant's premium network, may not be available on Stan once its current deal expires early next year, sources said. Existing shows like Billions will be available on Stan for as long as they run under the terms of the agreement secured back in 2016, but it is unclear whether the new plans to be announced by Mr Bakish will preclude the streaming service from doing future deals for Showtime content.
Stan separately has a long-term output deal in place with ViacomCBS' Paramount studio, which makes shows such as YellowStone and The Great. It also has access to ViacomCBS' back catalogue of shows.
The decision by ViacomCBS suggests the American giant plans to intensify its push into the increasingly crowded Australian streaming video market. 10 All Access is also likely to be rebranded to reflect the new content available, sources said. The refreshed service is expected to launch in February.
Nine chief executive Hugh Marks has previously said that no single output deal would "make or break Stan". The existing Showtime deal was estimated to be worth about $35 million a year and was described as "the most significant content licensing deal in recent Australian history".
Stan was hopeful of landing a multi-million dollar deal with WarnerMedia in May but an agreement was ultimately signed with Foxtel. It lost the streaming rights to Disney shows when Disney+ launched in Australia late last year. In the coming months shows like Friends will also be removed from the streaming platform, which has about 2 million subscribers.
But the streaming service has other content deals in place with prominent Hollywood studios such as Starz, Sony and Paramount. Industry sources also indicated that Stan is negotiating with NBCUniversal, which has a content slate that includes shows like Saturday Night Live and The Good Place. Some NBC titles that Stan has access to including The Office and Seinfeld are largely non-exclusive.
When Stan launched in 2015 it was largely competing against Netflix. Since then prominent US studios that previously licensed their content to intermediary companies have brought their content in-house and launched direct to consumer streaming services. Stan now competes with Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Foxtel's Binge and 10 All Access.
ViacomCBS was trying to gather information in February about whether an expanded streaming service in Australia could work.
Sources previously warned this masthead that ViacomCBS would likely pull its Showtime and Nickelodeon brands from Stan and Foxtel once the contracts expire and bring them into 10 All Access. A rebrand is likely to be on the cards.
Speculation about a bigger and more competitive offering was fuelled in February when Mr Bakish announced plans to combine CBS All Access with other Viacom assets like Pluto TV, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and Paramount to form a mega-sized streaming service in the US. ViacomCBS also has deals in place with Foxtel and Fetch TV.
ViacomCBS Australia and New Zealand declined to comment. Stan declined to comment.
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From CBR:
ViacomCBS to Launch Streaming Service With CBS All Access and Showtime Content in 2021
ViacomCBS is planning to launch a premium streaming service next year, featuring original shows from CBS All Access and Showtime.
ViacomCBS plans to launch a new premium streaming service next year, which will feature original content from CBS All Access and Showtime. A "super-sized" selection of content from ViacomCBS brands has also been teased including CBS, MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon.
The new service, which was reported to be in the works as early as February, will feature exclusive premieres of Showtime and CBS All Access originals, including the television adapation of Halo. The service will start rolling out in international markets, starting with Australia, Latin America and the Nordic countries.
The Australian version of CBS All Access will simply be rebranded as the new streamer; the Paramount Plus service in the Nordics, Eastern Europe, and Latin America will receive the same treatment. ViacomCBS explained that it will "continue to license product selectively to third parties in international markets." As of yet, there has been no set date for the service's launch.
"We're going to continue working with our colleagues in our distribution team to work out the right approach to allocate rights and windowing in those markets," President and CEO of ViacomCBS Networks International David Lynn said in a statement, "We have more than enough content to continue to do licensing."
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From Variety:
ViacomCBS to Launch Global Streamer in Early 2021, Headlined By Showtime, CBS All Access Originals
ViacomCBS has raised the curtains on its long-anticipated global streamer, with plans set for an early 2021 launch.
Having teased the prospect of a “broad pay streaming product” back in May, ViacomCBS Networks International has unveiled plans for a premium SVOD service for all audiences, underpinned by major output deals with Showtime and CBS All Access and a “super-sized” selection of content from ViacomCBS brands including CBS, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and some first-run Paramount films.
The streamer, which will receive bespoke branding in the coming months, will be rolled out early next year in Australia, Latin America and the Nordics, with more international markets to follow. In some countries, the platform won’t be starting from scratch: CBS All Access is already present in Australia and will simply relaunch as the new streamer. The same applies for the Paramount Plus service in the Nordics, Eastern Europe and Latin America.
The new platform, which was discussed by ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish on the company’s earnings call on Thursday, will offer exclusive premieres of all Showtime titles, including new series “Halo” and “American Rust,” as well as CBS All Access originals like “Guilty Party” and “The Harper House.” To date, many of these originals have been sold to third-party global platforms and broadcasters in hugely lucrative output deals, and questions will now be raised about the future of these pacts.
ViacomCBS has confirmed to Variety, however, that it will “continue to license product selectively to third parties in international markets.” For example, in the first batch of launch markets, the new service will be home to all Showtime premieres, but that doesn’t include series already licensed to third parties.
“We’re going to continue working with our colleagues in our distribution team to work out the right approach to allocate rights and windowing in those markets,” David Lynn, president and CEO of ViacomCBS Networks International, tells Variety. “We have more than enough content to continue to do licensing.”
The question, however, is whether major titles like CBS All Access original “Star Trek: Picard” — for which Amazon Prime Video swooped for global rights and spent major coin pushing in markets such as the U.K. — will continue to live on that platform globally beyond their original deal terms, or carry over to the new ViacomCBS streamer.
Other programs set to launch in all three markets, to varying degrees of exclusivity, include “The Good Wife,” “The Affair,” “Californication,” “Deadwood,” “Dexter,” “House of Lies,” “Nurse Jackie,” “Oz” and the original “Twin Peaks.”
The platform, powered by the same tech used for CBS All Access, will also combine movies from Paramount Pictures and premieres and box sets from Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Network, as well as originals from in-house production outfit ViacomCBS International Studios in some markets.
“The content offering will vary per market,” says Lynn, highlighting that “we’re definitely going to produce local originals for the service in some, if not all, the phase one markets.”
But the “overall architecture of the service,” as Lynn sees it, is predicated on exclusive first runs of Showtime and CBS All Access originals, followed by a selection of first-run Paramount Pictures films and classic movies in some markets, and then the ViacomCBS boxsets, alongside bespoke local content in individual markets “that can be either local originals, or third-party acquisitions,” adds the executive.
Ultimately, the platform will look to serve four-quadrant viewing by combining blockbuster and classic movies, premium scripted series, kids, comedy and entertainment, reality and specialist factual content. Notably, niche pre-school streamer Noggin, available in 65 countries, will remain as a distinct platform.
While there was speculation at one point that AVOD service Pluto TV may be used to expand international via an SVOD tier and premium content offering, Lynn assures the Tom Ryan-led service will continue as a standalone player, soon to launch in Brazil, France, Italy and Spain. “We want to be big in AVOD, and we want to be big in SVOD. Those two services I see as completely complementary to each other,” says Lynn, underlining more cross-promotion in the future between the two services.
Launch markets have been selected strategically. In Australia, the existing 10 All Access service will be rebranded and significantly expanded. Meanwhile, the Latin America launch spans Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, and the Nordic countries include Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
The roll-out will be executed using ViacomCBS’s existing international infrastructure, which spans offices in more than 30 countries, to improve cost efficiency and allow investment to be focused on screen.
Pierluigi Gazzolo, president of streaming for VCNI, added: “With more than 200 million new streaming subscriptions due to come online internationally by 2025, we’re very confident we can build a meaningful subscriber base in the next few years. ViacomCBS is one of a very small handful of elite content companies with broad enough content pipelines and deep enough content libraries to lead in all segments of the video entertainment market.”
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From The Hollywood Reporter:
ViacomCBS' International Unit to Launch Premium Subscription Streaming Service
Targeting "audiences of all ages with a competitively priced and super-sized selection of 'must-see' exclusives, premieres and box sets," it will also include Paramount films and premiere CBS All Access originals and all new Showtime series.
ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI), a unit of ViacomCBS, is developing a premium streaming service that will start launching in key international markets next year, targeting "audiences of all ages with a competitively priced and super-sized selection of 'must-see' exclusives, premieres and box sets from ViacomCBS’ much-loved entertainment brands."
The new SVOD service, whose branding will be revealed later, will start its international rollout early in 2021, with a focus on fast-growing streaming markets where ViacomCBS has identified the opportunity to become a leader in paid-for streaming based on its competitive position. These are Australia, where the firm's existing 10 All Access service will be rebranded and significantly expanded to create the broader new offering, Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, as well as the Nordic countries. In Latin America and the Nordics, the firm will rebrand and beef up its existing Paramount+ streaming service to introduce the new service.
In terms of content, the service will be offering exclusive premieres of all new Showtime series, including the upcoming Halo and Rust. CBS All Access originals will also premiere exclusively on the new service, such as Guilty Party and The Harper House. The streamer will also feature movies from Paramount Pictures and content from Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Network, as well as originals from ViacomCBS International Studios "in some markets."
Fan favorite shows that will be available in all three initial focus markets with varying degrees of exclusivity also include The Good Wife, The Affair, Californication, Deadwood, Dexter, House of Lies, Nurse Jackie, Oz and the original Twin Peaks.
Overall, the news unveiled on Thursday is mindful of ViacomCBS' recent moves to expand and rebrand CBS All Access in the U.S. with programming from former Viacom networks and more. But in the case of the international streamer existing services launched by Viacom will be expanded with CBS All Access and Showtime programming, among other things. The new streamer for markets abroad will utilize the technology and platform that powers CBS All Access in the U.S.
The company didn't disclose subscriber targets for the international streaming service, but David Lynn, president and CEO of VCNI, calls the new service "a game-changer for ViacomCBS" and tells THR that it has "significant growth potential" amid the broader uptake of SVOD services by consumers, "particularly amid COVID."
"Streaming does represent a big opportunity for us," Lynn argues, adding the combined ViacomCBS wants to "become as powerful a player in international streaming as we are in linear TV" and "generate material revenues from OTT services.” The merger enables the new streaming offering in foreign markets as "a big play with a super-sized content offering that really does come from combining the incredible libraries of the two companies," he adds.
Can the new service compete with the likes of Netflix and Disney+? Lynn lauds it will provide a "world-class content offering at a competitive price, and I am confident that it can compete successfully with any of the paid streaming services." He notes that consumers are taking up multiple services, saying: "We can build a meaningful international subscriber base for our services."
The new streamer will "target on-demand audiences of all ages by combining blockbuster and classic movies, premium scripted series, kids, comedy and entertainment, reality and specialist factual content and will eventually aim to match or exceed other streaming services with a selection of thousands of hours of content in every market," the company said.
But Lynn also has his eyes on original local fare. In Latin America, fore example, ViacomCBS has ViacomCBS International Studios. "We are already starting to develop (projects) specifically for the new service," Lynn tells THR
ViacomCBS said it would work with existing distribution partners, as well as new distributors, to market the service to their subscribers, as well as "retailing the service direct to consumers."
Said Pierluigi Gazzolo, president, streaming for VCNI: "With more than 200 million new streaming subscriptions due to come online internationally by 2025, we’re very confident we can build a meaningful subscriber base in the next few years. ViacomCBS is one of a very small handful of elite content companies with broad enough content pipelines and deep enough content libraries to lead in all segments of the video entertainment market."
The international streaming service's launch will happen in parallel to the ongoing rollout of the firm's free streaming service Pluto TV, which recently debuted across Spanish-speaking Latin America countries, following launches in the U.K. and Germany. Pluto TV is planning to expand into Brazil and Spain by the end of 2020 and France and Italy in 2021.
Lynn says the new international service and Pluto TV are part of a "linked ecosystem" with a "twin strategy" of free and subscription streaming offers. ViacomCBS will also keep licensing content to third parties in foreign markets, he says.
“We have more than enough content to be able to license to everybody.".
What may, however, disappear over time are various niche streaming services that Viacom has offered in international markets. "Our focus in launch markets for the new international streaming service will be on marketing this super service instead of various niche services," explains Lynn.
Noggin will have a future as a standalone streaming app though, the executive tells THR. "There is a real opportunity for a niche service in the pre-school space that is now available in more than 65 markets through our Amazon and Apple partnerships," he explains.
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From Digital TV Europe:
ViacomCBS reveals more details about 2021 super streamer
ViacomCBS has revealed more details about its expanded international streaming service.
Teased for months by the media giant as a ‘super service’ streamer, the company utilised its quarterly earnings call to shine a light on “broad pay” CBS All Access product which will combine a selection of content from its brands including CBS, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, its Paramount film studio and current SVODs Showtime and CBS All Access.
CEO Bob Bakish said: “We’re targeting early 2021 for the launch of our international streaming service, a super-sized offering of truly compelling content with first-run originals and libraries from all ViacomCBS brands, including Showtime. We will focus next year’s initial rollout on a set of high-value territories where we see an opportunity to become the market leader. These territories include Australia, Latin America and the Nordics.”
ViacomCBS is already established as an SVOD brand in a small number of markets with CBS All Access and Paramount Plus. In those countries, it is understood that CBS All Access will relaunch with a bolstered library and new user experience. It is unclear what will happen in Australia where CBS All Access is branded as 10 All Access as a joint venture with Network 10.
In its presentation, ViacomCBS said that the platform will have “distribution across all platforms”, which seems to indicate that it will not have the same issues that WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal have had with Amazon and Roku.
The company also said that this new CBS All Access product will be designed to complement its AVOD service Pluto TV and that they will “move in parallel”.
Pluto, Bakish said “is really cranking” with the free-to-view AVOD registering 33 monthly active users by the end of the quarter, with 26.5 million of those coming from the US.
As far as its current SVOD businesses go, the CEO said that CBS All Access “had a great quarter”, and that Showtime “had its best quarter ever in subscriber growth,” adding more subscribers in the past six months than the previous two and a half years combined. It expects to hit 18 million domestic SVOD subscribers by the end of the 2020 financial year.
Bakish said: “Our streaming strategy is working, and it’s really just getting going. As you can see, it’s about value creation on a global scale for the short and long term. And I look forward to updating you as we pass key milestones in the coming quarters.”
Overall, the company had a solid quarter and has managed to withstand many of the pressures of COVID-19. That said, ViacomCBS did take a 27% hit to ad revenue as a result of the pandemic and its theatrical business dropped by 98% year-over-year with no major releases.
TV entertainment took a similar dive of 22% to US$2.29 billion, while cable networks actually managed a 2% increase to US$3.23 billion. ViacomCBS channels are available in 190 million broadcast homes around the world and 2.7 billion cumulative TV homes. Its international linear share of viewing has increased by 11%, Bakish said.
Total revenue for the company was US$6.28 billion, down 12% year-over-year. Christina Spade, the company’s EVP and CFO, outlined the company’s response to the pandemic, surmising that “in light of the ongoing COVID pandemic, we achieved solid results in Q2 2020.”
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From IndianTelevision.com:
Streaming successfully, the ViacomCBS way
The India market with Voot and Voot Select will not be impacted by the Pluto and new SVOD rollout.
MUMBAI: A couple of weeks ago, ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish announced a new international streaming service – replacing CBS All Access - which would be launched in the first phase in Australia, Latin America and the Nordics in 2021. It would be the second streaming service under the Viacom-CBS umbrella, the first being the free streamer Pluto TV, which it acquired in 2019 for $340 million.
Speaking at APOS yesterday ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI) president & CEO David Lynn said that “Asia is a significant territory, the markets there are extremely advanced in OTT and streaming. However, we have not decided on the markets. What differentiates us is the free play we have through Pluto and the paid one through the super streamer we are planning. Having two products allows us the flexibility to decide what plays out where. Indonesia is an advertising- based market whereas Japan is subscriber-oriented. What we know is that the partnerships we have had with mobile in those regions are going to be important, particularly around 5G, and we can work with the operators to market that service.”
He additionally sees opportunities in Asia for Noggin, the preschool kids services which have been launched internationally on Amazon and Apple channels.
Lynn revealed that in India, ”Viacom-CBS has a very material successful business in Viacom18 that has been built out over more than a decade. That business-like several other businesses has had the impact of Covid2019, but we are beginning to move past that. We are seeing our production ramp-up again, we are seeing viewership follow the new production and we are seeing the ad markets recovering.”
He further explained that the strategy for India is similar to the international streaming strategy. “We have a very successful leading free streaming service in Voot. Then we have a premium paid premium service called Voot Select, which has got off to a significant start,” he said. “The core business is very strong, the move into streaming presents a huge opportunity and is off to a successful start, and not the least because of our partnership with Reliance and their ownership of Jio which is an incredible driver of streaming. “
Clearly, even as different publications have been going to town writing for the past two years - and more aggressively recently - about the impending merger of Sony with Viacom18, Lynn did not once mention that any such talks were on.
Lynn further expressed that the new global subscription OTT will have an output premiere deal with Showtime, CBS-All Access, content from Paramount Pictures, MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. “It is going to be a supersized streaming service,” he said. “With the massive content from Viacom-CBS. “
Lynn revealed that the 30 countries that Viacom-CBS has operations in and the assets, and relationships, the local content will be leveraged to push the super- sized streaming service. “We want to become a material player from the advertising, subscription and licensing perspectives and become a market leader in streaming internationally,” he stated.
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From AnimationXpress:
ViacomCBS to launch new OTT service replacing CBS All Access; might be available in India
Few weeks ago, ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish declared a new international streaming service, replacing CBS All Access, to be launched in the first phase in Australia, Latin America and the Nordics in 2021. It would be the second streaming platform under ViacomCBS umbrella, after Pluto TV, which was acquired in 2019 for $340 million.
Speaking at APOS ViacomCBS Networks International president & CEO David Lynn hinted at expanding it in Asia. He stated, “Asia is a significant territory, the markets there are extremely advanced in OTT and streaming. However, we have not decided on the markets. What differentiates us is the free play we have through Pluto and the paid one through the upcoming streamer we are planning. Having two products will allow us the flexibility to decide what plays out where. Indonesia is an advertising- based market whereas Japan is subscriber-oriented. What we know is that the partnerships we have had with mobile in those regions are going to be important, particularly around 5G, and we can work with the operators to market that service.”
Additionally, he also mentioned noticing opportunities in Asia for Noggin, the preschool kids services which have been launched internationally on Amazon and Apple channels.
Lynn also revealed that the India market with VOOT and VOOT Select will not be impacted by the new SVOD rollout. “Viacom-CBS has a very material successful business in Viacom18 that has been built out over more than a decade. That business-like several other businesses has had the impact of Covid-19, but we are beginning to move past that. We are seeing our production ramp-up again, we are seeing viewership follow the new production and we are seeing the ad markets recovering,” mentioned he.
Further explaining the strategy for India, Lynn added, “It is similar to the international streaming strategy. We have a very successful leading free streaming service in VOOT, along with a paid premium service – VOOT Select, which has got off to a significant start. The core business is very strong, the move into streaming presents a huge opportunity and is off to a successful start, and not the least because of our partnership with Reliance and their ownership of Jio which is an incredible driver of streaming.”
However, Lynn did not even mention once about the impending merger between Sony and Viacom18. He noted that the new global SVOD OTT service will house premium deals with Showtime, CBS All Access, content from Paramount Pictures, MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. “It is going to be a supersized streaming service, with massive content from ViacomCBS.”
Lynn also revealed 30 countries that ViacomCBS has operations in, the assets, and relationships, the local content will be leveraged to push the super-sized streaming service.
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More Nick: Nickelodeon Upfront 2020 Roundup!
Originally published: Thursday, August 06, 2020.
Additional source: Business Wire.
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