Walmart has struck a deal with mass media conglomerate Paramount Global to give its Walmart+ members free access to the streaming service as an added benefit, starting in September.
With the move, Walmart hopes to draw more members to its paid subscription service. Walmart+ positions itself as giving more value to customers for less.
Walmart+
The retail giant Walmart is the world’s largest company by revenue and operates a chain of hypermarkets, department stores, and groceries across North America. It introduced Walmart+ as a rival for Amazon Prime in 2020.
Walmart+ features same-day delivery of over 160,000 products as well as discounts on fuel in 14,000 partner gas stations nationwide. A six-month Spotify subscription is also bundled with the membership.
In a statement, Chris Cracchiolo, senior vice president, and general manager of Walmart+ sums up the new partnership:
With the addition of Paramount+, we are demonstrating our unique ability to help members save even more and live better by delivering entertainment for less, too. Eighty-five percent of U.S. households use streaming services and Paramount+ has the premium content and broad appeal that our members are looking for – like Walmart, they have something for everyone. We’re excited about the launch and what comes next for Walmart+.
This partnership will make Walmart+ a more attractive competitor to the popular Amazon Prime subscription service which includes Amazon Prime Video among its add-on features along with ebooks, gaming and music streaming.
Paramount+
Paramount Global is the parent company of Paramount Pictures and the CBS Entertainment group. The on-demand streaming service Paramount+ was launched in 2014 as CBS All Access and was later renamed after the merger and rebranding of the parent company.
Paramount+ has a catalog of thousands of film and TV titles from Paramount Pictures and CBS. Subscribers will also have access to cable channels MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and VH1 among others.
The Paramount+ Essential plan currently costs $4.99 per month and does not include access to local live CBS stations which are available through the Premium plan. The plan does include access to CBS, CBS Sports as well as live sports broadcasts.
Jeff Schultz, chief strategy officer, and chief business development officer of Paramount Streaming had this to say about the partnership:
Paramount has enjoyed a close relationship with Walmart for years, and Walmart customers connect with Paramount's beloved brands, content, and characters every day through a range of consumer products available throughout Walmart stores.
Walmart has not disclosed the number of Walmart+ subscribers, but according to a recent survey done by Morgan Stanley, the service has 16 million members. Paramount+, on the other hand, has 43.3 million subscribers as per its Q2 earnings report.
The Walmart+ subscription costs $12.95 per month or $98 annually. The free Paramount+ Essential plan gives members an additional savings of $59 annually.
