Copyright The Hollywood Reporter
Paramount+ plans to institute price increases for the streaming service in early 2026. The exact rate of price increases have not yet been disclosed, but CEO David Ellison telegraphed the change in the company’s third-quarter shareholder letter Tuesday, as he spoke to the increased content investment around the streaming service, including with new UFC programming. He called growing this business the company’s “top priority,” and outlined incremental programming investments in 2026 in excess of $1.5 billion, which includes DTC investments in the UFC, Paramount+ Originals, and third-party catalog licensing and increasing the company’s film slate. “Our ongoing investments in Paramount+ are enhancing the value we deliver to consumers. To support this continued investment, we plan to implement price increases in the US early in the first quarter of 2026, and we recently announced upcoming price adjustments in Canada and Australia. These changes will fuel continued reinvestment in the user experience and deliver an even stronger slate of programming for our customers in the year ahead and beyond,” David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount said in the shareholder letter. In August, Paramount announced a seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with UFC (and WWE) parent TKO, making Paramount+ the new streaming home to UFC events in the U.S., including 13 numbered pay-per-views. “We also recognize that live sports are a powerful engine for regular engagement – addressing new audiences, increasing retention, and supporting monetization over time. It is this belief that underpins our long-term media rights agreements with the UFC – one of the fastest growing sports with over 100 million domestic fans, Zuffa Boxing, and the Professional Bull Riders’ premier tour, Unleash the Beast, starting in the 2026 season,” Ellison wrote in the letter. Paramount also signed the Duffer Brothers, creators of Stranger Things, for an exclusive four-year deal across movie, TV and streaming. Ellison also highlighted how the company is “increasing” its investment in exclusive programming across streaming platforms, including with programming such as Tulsa King, the most-watched title on Paramount+ worldwide so far in Q4, as well as the upcoming season of Landman, the renewal of Dexter: Resurrection and the final season of Yellowjackets. He added that the company will expand third-party licensing for both originals and catalog, with more frequent refreshes of the library. Paramount will also establish an Originals launch calendar with tentpole releases spread across the year, rather than the old model of concentration historical around the sports season and year-end. In the quarter, Paramount+ added 1.4 million new subscribers for a total of 79 million, up from 77.7 million in the second quarter and 79 million reported in the first quarter. The company reported direct-to-consumer revenue of $2.1 billion, up 17 percent year-over-year, driven by a 24% increase in Paramount+ revenue. In the letter, Ellison said he expects the direct-to-consumer segment to be profitable in 2026 and grow that profitability over the year.
