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Two of the biggest entertainment events of the weekend. could have been exclusive to Paramount Plus: Oprah’s long-awaited interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, and the long-awaited Eddie Murphy interview Coming 2 America. Instead, the former is now only available on the CBS website (free) and the latter is exclusively streamed on Amazon.
For a company whose executives only touted the vital importance of leaning towards streaming, having released Paramount Plus within days of the interview and film release, you can’t find a way to have one or the other, or both, ideally, available upon request -scratch worthy.
One absence is more understandable than the other. Harpo (Oprah’s production company) did not make the video-on-demand streaming rights available to ViacomCBS, The edge has learned. The interview was available on Paramount Plus as live programming, but there is no replay available to subscribers.
His interview became the most broadcast event outside of NFL and Super Bowl games, according to ViacomCBS, but without any context, that statement does not provide any precise measurements. The interview also garnered an average of 17.1 million linear viewers on Sunday (a truly impressive number considering that dating TV becomes more and more of a relic with each new streaming service). Based on that number and the conversation on social media, it was a big problem.
ViacomCBS actually did quite well even without the interview being on Paramount Plus. The special raised approximately $ 325,000 for a 30-second ad, according to the Los Angeles Times, and now it is played with advertising on the CBS website and app. (The rights to something that is streamed as digital video on a free site 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 could end up on a different streaming service. , but the CBS digital website will have the interview for 30 days. All of which is great for CBS’s traditional television business, but not for a company that has spent the last year touting the importance of its new broadcast platform.
What Vulture‘s Kathryn VanArendonk tweeted, “Imagine launching a streaming service, having a wildly popular interview that same week available only through your streaming service, and then having the interview disappear from your platform entirely the second it’s done airing.”
It’s a short-term sacrifice play. Obviously, ViacomCBS would have liked to own the broadcast rights to drive subscribers to Paramount Plus. But ViacomCBS did not have the advantage. If CBS passed, Harpo could have gone to ABC (Disney) or NBC (Comcast) instead. Also, based on a quick Google Trends search and scrolling through Twitter, people signed up for Paramount Plus through the free interview trial. The question is whether people will stay after those initial seven days.
Remember, the key to understanding the streaming philosophy of most companies is that exciting new content attracts subscribers, but it’s fan-favorite TV series and movies that keep people paying month after month. month. That is what makes the decision not to wear Coming 2 America, the sequel to Eddie Murphy Coming to america, even more confusing.
An important context to consider: ViacomCBS sold the film to Amazon in October during a period when the company was selling several of its films while theaters were closed or operating at limited capacity. Chicago 7 trial Y Love birds they both went to Netflix, getting Paramount between $ 75 and $ 85 million for both. Paramount also sold No regrets to Amazon, along with Coming 2 America.
For several of the movies, 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 movies that were on a shelf. Most of these films were also released prior to the release of Paramount Plus. If the original intention was to release Coming 2 America between mid-December and January, why not delay it until March and make it a debut title?
Coming 2 America it was released the same weekend as Paramount Plus. It could have been used to attract subscribers, such as A quiet place II Y Mission impossible 7, which they leave theaters early and land on Paramount Plus just 45 days after release. Rather than take advantage of 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 one former executive at a rival studio put it The edge “Paramount has been dysfunctional for 15 years, but … I am left speechless by how inept and stupid Paramount has been.”
Oh, and in terms of where could Oprah’s interview with Meghan and Harry end after all is said and done? Keep an eye out for Discovery Plus. Oprah has a stake in the company and OWN is part of the Discovery family. It’s just what Discovery Plus would love to have.
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