Is The Show Over For Showtime? Paramount Looks To Consolidate The Struggling Network With Paramount+

At the 2022 Emmy Awards, host Kenan Thompson went on a little riff about the current state of TV dramas. “Now, a lot of the shows up for Best Drama were hard to watch,” he explained. “Stranger Things was hard to watch because it’s so scary. Squid Game was hard to watch because it’s so violent. And Yellowjackets was hard to watch because it’s on Showtime.”

The joke may have landed semi-awkwardly in the room — and barely anybody was watching at home — but it spoke to a common sentiment: Showtime is struggling, and Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish and “non-executive chairwoman” Shari Redstone are running out of time to figure out what to do with it. Cue yesterday’s report in the Wall Street Journal that Paramount is in the “early stages” of consideration about pulling the plug on Showtime as a stand-alone service and folding it into Paramount+, the company’s key strategic asset in the Streaming Wars. (FWIW, Paramount+ was also the butt of a Kenan joke, in which he derisively compared “Netflix and chill” to “watchin’ Paramount+ and eatin’ dinner alone.”)

Since the dawn of the Streaming Wars, Showtime has found itself on the outside looking in. The once proud network, home to Emmy winners like Homeland and Nurse Jackie, revered limited series like Twin Peaks: The Return and Escape at Dannemora, and popular smashes like Ray Donovan and Shameless, is adrift. Unlike its longtime rival HBO, which has only seen its strength increase despite corporate shenanigans ranging from a disastrous takeover by AT&T takeover to a disastrous takeover by Discovery Networks, Showtime is falling on hard times. Their parent company, the aforementioned Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS), refuses to disclose the number of paying subscribers that the premium cable network currently draws; in 2020, that figure was reported to be 27 million. Their current flagship series, Yellowjackets, landed an impressive 7 Emmy nominations, but struggles to draw north of 1 million viewers per episode. And while the network can still lure A-list talent (Bryan Cranston in Your Honor, Jon Bernthal in American Gigolo) to topline their shows, these programs seem to be entirely lacking in buzz across all demographic cohorts. So what does the future hold for Showtime?

Well, for now, the company’s first step seems to be testing the waters with regards to its pricing strategy. Namely, instituting some deep discounts. AMEX holders can currently get the Showtime service, normally priced at $10.99/month, for the bargain basement price of $3.99/month, and the company is also testing out an upgraded Paramount+ / Showtime bundle that is currently available as par of a limited time offer for just $7.99/month. (“We are always exploring options to maximize the value of our content investment by giving consumers access to great Paramount content through an array of services and platforms,” a Paramount Global spokesman told the WSJ.) Whether or not these promotions drive an influx of new subs and consumer interest in the face of intense competition remains to be seen, but from a strategic perspective, a merger of these two services could be just the ticket to drive up the stock price of the struggling corporation. The PARA stock has nosedived 44% in the last year, and at a current price of $21 and change, is off a staggering 63% since its highwater mark of $97.35 in March of 2021. Yikes.

Of course, anyone following the trades (or keeping an eye on their 401Ks) knows it’s been a Bummer Summer (to quote The Ankler’s Richard Rushfield) for the entire streaming industry, not just Paramount/Showtime. Still, the great Netflix Correction of Spring ’22 left an enormous wake that the Bob Bakishes and Shari Redstones of the world have been forced to deal with posthaste. Does it really make sense for a single media corporation to maintain two separate and distinct streaming services with the way things are currently going in the marketplace? Of course not. It’s high time to batten down the hatches and consolidate, and Paramount+ clearly holds the upper hand over Showtime in this battle of corporate cousins. Paramount+ has Nickelodeon, after all, as well as all things CBS, not to mention live sports from world-renowned leagues like the NFL and UEFA Champions League, and a vast library of popular movies that range from The Godfather to Top Gun: Maverick. And what does Showtime have, exactly? Reruns of Californication?

The time to write the obituary for Showtime, which first launched as a premium cable service way back in 1976, is not yet upon us, but there’s little point denying that it’s high time for the network’s proverbial next of kin to start getting its affairs in order. Oh, and maybe start thinking of some kind words for the eulogy, too.