If you were lucky, you got in on the cheap Paramount+ Essentials with Showtime bundle that cost just $7.99 when it was first launched. In August, Paramount stopped offering the package, but existing customers got to keep their grandfathered plans. Now, Paramount+ has started to contact subscribers to inform them that this plan is going away entirely.
This was first spotted by readers on Reddit who said they got the email warning them of this change.
In the email to subscribers with the cheaper “Essentials” plan, Paramount let them know that they will be automatically upgraded to the $11.99 a month Paramount+ with Showtime plan. Confusingly, the email states that “your monthly price WILL REMAIN THE SAME at $11.99/month,” even though the previous rate for some users was $7.99 a month.
Cord Cutters News has reached out to Paramount for comment on this but at the time of publication, they have not responded with comment.
For customers who are already on the $5.99 Essentials plan without Showtime or the $11.99 Paramount+ with Showtime plan, nothing will change for you.
This news comes as Paramount recently said that its SHOWTIME TV Network will be rebranded as Paramount+ with SHOWTIME. This follows the announcement earlier this year that the SHOWTIME streaming app will shut down and be merged into Paramount+. Now, the cable TV network will also be rebranded as it adds programming from Paramount+.
The new network will continue to air Showtime Original series, including A Gentleman in Moscow, the George Clooney executive-produced The Department and The Woman in the Wall, as well as the award-winning and culture-shifting hits Fellow Travelers, The Chi, The Curse, Yellowjackets and Your Honor, among others. Now though, you will also find Paramount+ programming airing on the network when the rebrand happens, including Halo, Taylor Sheridan’s Mayor of Kingstown, Star Trek: Discovery, and Wolf Pack.
This rebranding will happen on January 8, 2024. On that date, SHOWTIME will become the Paramount+ with SHOWTIME.