Paramount+ Raising Prices in January

Buckle up for yet another price hike. On Jan. 15, 2026, Paramount+ will raise its price by $1 on both tiers. While no price hike is good, this is significantly smaller than the recent increases at Peacock or Apple TV.

The ad-supported Paramount+ Essential will rise to $8.99/month and the ad-free Paramount+ Premium will go to $13.99/month. The annual prices will also increase, but still offering 10 months for the price of 12.

In Q3, Paramount+ added 1.4 million subscribers to hit 79 million overall. That’s up nearly 10% from a year ago. Subscribers have doubled in 3 and a half years.

The growth is astonishing. A lot of their success is due to the creative powerhouse Taylor Sheridan. The mind behind “Yellowstone” has knocked out an endless string of hits for Paramount+ like “1883,” “1923,” “Mayor of Kingstown,” “Lioness,” “Tulsa King,” and “Landman.”

But a problem for Paramount+ is that Sheridan just signed a new deal with NBCUniversal/Peacock. That’s going to leave an enormous hole at Paramount, especially since the new CEO David Ellison seems to be targeting male viewers in red states.

Paramount+ is loading up on dude-friendly content like its 7-year deal with UFC and a 5-year deal with Professional Bull Riding.

But men won’t automatically flock to Paramount+ for niche sports alone. And replacing Sheridan isn’t an easy task. While his content could often feel heavy-handed, he’s capable of some excellent entertainment. (His scripts for “Sicario” and “Hell or High Water” are very well done.) Attempts to imitate him will likely backfire.

The Elephant in the Room

The biggest question mark floating around Paramount is the possible acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount is already home to a ton of linear channels like CBS, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, and VH1. If the company acquires WBD, it would add channels like CNN, TBS, TNT, and HGTV.

That would be a very big bet on a dying industry. How many linear channels does Paramount want to own?

The crown jewels on the block are HBO and the Warner Bros. library and IP. A deal would put Looney Tunes and the Nickelodeon cartoons on the same team. Star Trek and Mission: Impossible would join Batman and The Matrix. The library would be remarkable.

But Paramount is already a huge operation and Ellison says they’re ramping up theatrical movie production from 8 movies a year to 15+. If the company buys Warner Bros, it’s not like they’re going to produce 30 movies a year. As we’ve seen with the Disney acquisition of 21st Century Fox, a mega-merger doesn’t mean much in the long run. Sure, Disney gets to push out movies and shows from the Avatar, Alien, and Predator franchises, but otherwise, Disney is basically the same Disney.

If Paramount is trying to juggle a giant media empire beyond its already-enormous size, something is bound to suffer. Would HBO still get the careful curation it as enjoyed for decades? Or would Paramount treat it like it has historically treated its premium channel, Showtime?

We should know whether Warner Bros. Discovery is remaining independent or selling itself in the next month or so. The Ellison family has some very deep pockets, but I can’t imagine things would end well if they win the WBD derby.