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Paramount Plus Has 32.8M Members, Spilling Stats for the First Time

It's smaller than Netflix and Disney Plus but has more paying members than Peacock.

Joan E. Solsman Former Senior Reporter
Joan E. Solsman was CNET's senior media reporter, covering the intersection of entertainment and technology. She's reported from locations spanning from Disneyland to Serbian refugee camps, and she previously wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. She bikes to get almost everywhere and has been doored only once.
Expertise Streaming video, film, television and music; virtual, augmented and mixed reality; deep fakes and synthetic media; content moderation and misinformation online Credentials
  • Three Folio Eddie award wins: 2018 science & technology writing (Cartoon bunnies are hacking your brain), 2021 analysis (Deepfakes' election threat isn't what you'd think) and 2022 culture article (Apple's CODA Takes You Into an Inner World of Sign)
Joan E. Solsman
A tablet rests against a green pillow with the Paramount Plus sign-in page displayed

Paramount Plus relaunched last year as an overhaul of the previous CBS All Access service. 

Sarah Tew/CNET

Paramount Plus had 32.8 million subscribers at the end of last year, parent company ViacomCBS said Tuesday, the first time it has ever broken out its subscriber base. Combined with other streaming services at the company, ViacomCBS has 56 million global streaming subscribers total. 

For context, Paramount Plus' membership is underneath that of market leader Netflix, at 221.8 million, and Disney Plus, at 129.8 million, in the standings of global subscribers. It's also smaller than Hulu, which operates only in the US and has 45.3 million members. But Paramount Plus has many more paying subscribers than the likes of Peacock, NBCUniversal's streaming service that had 9 million paid members at the end of last year. 

Paramount Plus -- alongside other young streaming services like Disney PlusHBO MaxApple TV PlusPeacockDiscovery Plus and others -- hopes its particular mix of TV shows, movies and originals will lure your attention from cable and streaming stalwarts like Netflix, hooking you on its own vision for TV's future. For you, these so-called streaming wars affect how many services you use -- and, often, must pay for -- to watch your favorite shows and movies online. 

The news was announced in ViacomCBS' quarterly earnings release.

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