Paramount Plus Gets June UK Launch Date
After months of speculation and vague rumours, the CEO of Paramount has finally revealed the launch date for Paramount Plus UK and Ireland – Wednesday, 22nd June 2022.
“In 2022, we’re continuing to expand Paramount+ to the biggest markets in the world, starting with the U.K. and South Korea in June,” commented Bob Bakish, Paramount president and CEO. “And, we will be in more major European markets, including Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria in the second half of the year. Additionally, in 2023, Paramount+ will launch in India in partnership with Viacom 18 as part of a recently announced agreement and is poised to participate in this fast-growing streaming market.”
What will be on Paramount+ UK?
This is the big question most people will have is what will be on the service… For Star Trek fans, we know it will be the home of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’, having been removed from Netflix last year, and the new upcoming series ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’. It’s a little less clear as to what will happen with the final season of ‘Star Trek: Picard’ as Prime Video had the rights to the first two seasons, and it is unclear if they have retained the rights for season three. There is also a question mark over ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’, which aired the first two seasons on Prime Video as well. ‘Star Trek: Prodigy‘ will also be on Paramount+ UK, although that has already premiered on the Paramount-owned Nickelodeon UK.
Outside of Star Trek, Paramount+ features an expansive catalogue of original series, hit shows and popular movies across every genre from world-renowned brands and production studios, including SHOWTIME, BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and the Smithsonian Channel, in addition to a robust offering of premier local content. Outside of the United States, the premium streaming service offers nearly 3,000 episodes of kids’ content, 1,000 episodes of reality, more than 500 films, and 2,500 hours of Paramount+ Originals, CBS and SHOWTIME series, dramas, and sitcoms.
Titles that will become available through 2022 in the UK, Ireland, Italy and GSA include a collection of scripted, exclusive Paramount+ Originals and exciting new takes on iconic franchises, including ‘HALO‘, ‘The Offer’, ‘Fairly Odd Parents: Fairly Odder’ and the new ‘iCarly’ series. ‘Yellowstone‘ and ‘South Park‘ will also be available, alongside ‘1883‘, ‘The First Lady’, ‘The Thing About Pam’ and ‘Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons’.
These will join premium international scripted Paramount+ originals produced by VIS – the international studio division of Paramount Global – in association with independent production companies in the UK and around the world. Previously announced original UK dramas heading to Paramount+ include ‘Sexy Beast’, ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’, ‘Flatshare’, ‘The Burning Girls’, ‘The Ex-Wife’ and ‘The Blue’.
As the international home of SHOWTIME, the service will offer ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth‘, ‘Ripley‘, ‘Super Pumped’, and ‘American Gigolo’, in addition to popular titles from Paramount, such as ‘Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years’, and ‘MTV Unplugged’. The service will also feature a collection of new movie premieres and fan favourites from Paramount Pictures such as films from the Mission Impossible and Transformer franchises, along with ‘Ray Donovan: The Movie‘.
You will note, two shows missing from that list include ‘The Good Fight’ and ‘Why Woman Kill’, which were previously sold to other UK broadcasters. Whether Paramount has wrestled those rights back for the launch remains to be seen…
Scripted originals from around the world include Los Enviados (The Envoys) (Mexico) and Cecilia (Mexico) – both of which have been renewed for a second season; Simon Beckett’s Chemistry of Death (Germany); The Signal (France); Bosé (Spain); Fallaci (Italy); At Midnight (Mexico); and more.
Hours of original factual titles from the UK production community will also be available, including Haunted, The Box, Rise of the Tech Titans, MH370: The Lost Flight, Chalet Girls, LA Hairdressers, Fashion House, Pervert: Catching the Strip Search Caller and Girl Taken.
Paramount+ will offer unlimited access to blockbuster movies with new releases like ‘Scream 5’, time-proven classics such as ‘Grease’ and ‘Star Trek’, and family-friendly selections like ‘PAW Patrol: The Movie’, ‘Clifford The Big Red Dog’ and more.
What will Paramount+ UK cost?
In the UK, Paramount+ will be a stand-alone streaming app to which anyone can subscribe, available in all the usual places you get your streaming apps for the price of £6.99 per month or £69.90 per year. However, they have also set up a deal with Sky that will see Sky Cinema customers get the service for free as part of their package, and also make it available as an add-on to some Sky Q customers, much like they do with Netflix.
Paramount+ launches in the UK and Ireland on Wednesday, 22nd June 2022.
