Two of the weekend’s biggest entertainment events it could were Paramount Plus exclusives: Oprah’s long-awaited interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, and Eddie Murphy eagerly awaited Coming 2 America. Instead, the former is now only available on the CBS website (free) and the latter is being broadcast exclusively on Amazon.
For a company whose executives have just praised the vital importance of leaning towards streaming, having released Paramount Plus days after the interview and the film were released, not finding a way to have one or the other – or both, ideally – available on demand it’s worthy -scratch head.
One absence is more understandable than the other. Harpo (an Oprah producer) did not make the streaming video on demand rights available to ViacomCBS, The Verge Learned. The interview was available on Paramount Plus as live programming, but there is no replay available to subscribers.
Their interview became the most broadcast event outside of the NFL and Super Bowl games, according to ViacomCBS, but without any context, this statement does not provide any precise measures. The interview also drew an average of 17.1 million linear viewers on Sunday (a truly impressive number, considering that scheduled television is increasingly becoming a relic with each new streaming service). Based on that figure and the conversations on social networks, it was a big deal.
ViacomCBS actually did very well, even without the interview being on Paramount Plus. The special earned about $ 325,000 for a 30-second ad, according to the Los Angeles Times, and is now playing ads on the CBS website and app. (The rights to something that airs as a digital video on a free website and the rights to have it as an exclusive title for a longer period of time on a streaming service are different.) This means that the interview may end in a different streaming service, but the CBS digital website will have the interview for 30 days. All of this is great for the traditional CBS television business, but not great for a company that has spent the past year promoting the importance of its new streaming platform.
How Vulturein Kathryn VanArendonk tweeted, “Imagine launching a streaming service, having an extremely popular interview in the same week available only through your streaming service, and then having the interview disappear entirely from your platform the second it goes on the air.”
It is a short-term sacrifice game. Obviously, ViacomCBS would like to own the streaming rights to attract subscribers to Paramount Plus. But ViacomCBS did not have the advantage. If CBS was approved, Harpo could have gone to ABC (Disney) or NBC (Comcast). In addition, based on a quick Google Trends survey and scrolling through Twitter, people signed up for Paramount Plus through the free interview test. The question is whether or not people will remain here after the first seven days.
Remember that the key to understanding most companies’ streaming philosophies is exciting new content that attracts subscribers, but it is fan favorite series and movies that keep people paying month after month. This is what makes the decision not to charge Coming 2 America, the sequel to Eddie Murphy Coming to America, even more confused.
Some important contexts to consider: ViacomCBS sold the film to Amazon in October, during a period when the company was selling several of its films while the cinemas were closed or operating with limited capacity. Chicago Trial 7 and Lovebirds both went to Netflix, earning Paramount between $ 75 and $ 85 million for both. Paramount also sold Without remorse to Amazon, next to Coming 2 America.
For several of the films, it made sense. CBS All Access was not a major investment for ViacomCBS compared to Paramount Plus, and the company needed to generate revenue for films that were on a shelf. Most of these films were also released before the release of Paramount Plus. If the original intention was to release Coming 2 America between mid-december and january, why not postpone it back to march and make it a debut title?
Coming 2 America was released the same weekend as Paramount Plus. It could have been used to attract subscribers, such as A Quiet Place II and Mission Impossible 7, what are leaving theaters earlier and joining Paramount Plus just 45 days after launch. Instead of leveraging the film, ViacomCBS ended up competing with Amazon for attention. Not having the movie is one less reason for people to sign up for Paramount Plus.
As a former executive of a rival studio said The Verge, “Paramount has been dysfunctional for 15 years, but … I’m speechless at how inept and stupid Paramount has been.”
Oh, and in terms of where Oprah’s interview with Meghan and Harry can end after everything is said and done? Keep an eye on Discovery Plus. Oprah has a stake in the company and OWN is part of the Discovery family. That’s exactly what Discovery Plus would love to have.