Sky Q viewers will be getting yet more content to watch on their smart TVs in the new year, with the Paramount+ streaming service set to be added to its expanding catalogue across Europe.
ViacomCBS, the owner of Paramount+, has agreed a multiyear deal with Sky that will see the service land on Sky Q in the U.K., Ireland, Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland in 2022. The deal also ensures ViacomCBS’s premium linear channels will also remain available on Sky, and that Paramount movies will still be accessible through Sky Cinema.
The big deal though is Paramount+, which means a whole lot of new stuff to watch. It adds approximately 10,000 hours of new content to Sky Q, the companies said. For a quick breakdown, there’s around 2,500 hours of Paramount+ original series, 500 additional movies not currently available on Sky Cinema, 1,000 hours of reality TV shows and almost 3,000 episodes of kids cartoons and shows.
ViacomCBS’s linear TV channels are also covered by the deal, so channels such as Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon will still be available on Sky Q.
Probably the best thing about this news is that Sky Cinema subscribers will get Paramount+ entirely for free, as it will be included in their basic package. The parnership renews an existing deal for Paramount Pictures’ feature films to appear on Sky Cinema in the U.K. and will also see them appear on Sky Cinema in Italy and Germany for the first time next year. For other Sky Q subscribers, they’ll be able to get Paramount+ as a paid add-on.
“We are thrilled to expand our long-standing partnership with Sky to continue delivering ViacomCBS’ leading portfolio of premium entertainment brands to Sky customers and importantly, bring Paramount+ to new audiences in all Sky markets,” said ViacomCBS President and Chief Executive Raffaele Annecchino.
ViacomCBS was keen to point out what will be coming to Paramount+ in 2022. It’s going to be a big year for the platform with the launch of high-profile franchises such as HALO, The Offer and the new iCarly series. Of course, there’s going to be tons of new movies hitting the service, such as the latest films in the Mission Impossible and Transformers series.
Sky Q has been aggressively expanding its catalogue of content. In the last year it has agreed similar deals with NBCUniversal, ITV and Channel 4. At the same time, it has pushed to make more and more of that content available in premium HDR quality.
Sky’s UK & Europe executive vice president and CEO Stephen van Rooyen said the deal was another example of how the company is aggregating all of the best TV apps and content in one place. “Paramount+ is an excellent service with a huge range of fantastic films and TV series and our new, broader agreement with ViacomCBS will benefit both businesses,” he said.
If you’re not a Sky Q subscriber and have no intention of becoming one, note that all is not lost if you suddenly have a burning Paramount+ itch that just has to be satisfied. ViacomCBS said in addition to Sky Q, Paramount+ will also be made available as a straight up app download in the U.K, Ireland, Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland for both Android and iOS devices. Of course, that would mean paying for a direct subscription.
The only thing it hasn’t said is when the European Android and iOS rollout will happen. Pricing, and local content offerings, will both be announced at a later date, but fingers crossed it might just happen earlier than 2022.
