Paramount’s Showtime app to close on April 30

Source: Alamy.com

The US Showtime streaming app is to be shuttered on April 30.

The winding down of Showtime as a standalone service comes 10 months after Paramount integrated the service into Paramount+ as paramount+ with Showtime, an ad-free streaming package retailing for US$11.99 a month.

“Now that subscribers can access their favorite Showtime programs on Paramount+ by subscribing to the Paramount+ with Showtime plan, the Showtime streaming service will shut down on April 30, 2024.  Current Showtime streaming subscribers will continue to have access to the Showtime streaming service until it is shut down on April 30, 2024,” the company’s help-centre informed users.

“Beginning May 1, 2024, the only way to stream Showtime programming is with a subscription to the Paramount+ with Showtime plan on Paramount+,” it said.

In February, when the company posted full-year 2023 financials, Paramount CEO Bob Bakish said the group had passed has “peak streaming losses” a year earlier than expected thanks in part to price increases and the integration of Showtime into Paramount+

Paramount is recalibrating its streaming programming strategy by cutting back on local-language programming internationally and focusing on “Hollywood hits” with broader appeal both in the US and overseas.

The company is also planning to cut programming costs more generally and is taking a “programming and restructuring charge” of about US$1 billion in the first quarter, of which about US$200 million will be accounted for by restructuring costs.