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Paramount+ review: why I’m not willing to pay so much for so little

9.12.2022

Translation: Veronica Bielawski

A new streaming service has been available in Switzerland since 8 December – Paramount+. I tested it out. Here are my thoughts. Spoiler alert: French-speaking Swiss and Ticinese, you’ll have to stand strong now.

Is there such a thing as enough streaming services on the market? The industry clearly thinks not! For years now, the number of platforms has been steadily growing. Long gone are the days when Netflix was the sole ruler of the virtual playground. Since 8 December, there’s been a new player on the field: Paramount+. To be precise, it’s new in Switzerland.

The renowned American film studio Paramount Pictures launched its streaming platform last year, just not everywhere. Worldwide, Paramount+ already counts a good 43 million subscribers. That’s enough to turn heads. Paramount has some major blockbuster franchises and series in its portfolio, such as «Mission Impossible», «Top Gun», «Star Trek», «Terminator», «Spongebob» and «The Good Wife». But is the streaming service any good here in Switzerland?

Setup: creating an account is easy

The first steps are easy. All you need to do is enter your first name, surname, address and credit card information – and the fun may begin. Needless to say, the service isn’t free. There are two subscription models to choose from. You can opt to pay:

12 francs per month
120 francs per year

This puts Paramount+ pretty much in line with Disney+ at launch, which currently runs you 12.90 francs per month or 129 francs per year. Billing starts after a 7-day trial period. After that, the subscription is automatically renewed by the previously selected billing period if you don’t cancel in time.

One watcher profile is created automatically. After that, you can add up to five further profiles. Each one will get its own recommendations based on what’s been watched. You can also set profiles to «kid mode» and protect them with a PIN. You’ll need to enter this PIN if you (or your child) want to switch the child profile to a standard, unprotected profile.

The things one does to test Paramount+ – like creating profiles galore to find out the max.
Source: Luca Fontana

So far, there’s nothing out of the ordinary that other streaming services don’t also offer.

Availability: not all TV manufacturers have joined the ranks (yet)

Currently, the Paramount+ app is only available on Apple and Android devices. This includes TVs from big players such as Sony, Philips and TCL that run on Android TV or Google TV. Though apparently not all of them, looking at the official page of supported devices, which lists «compatible» Android TV devices. It sounds to me like Paramount is trying to keep a window open for itself; why not simply write «all» Android TV devices? Unfortunately, I can’t test all that out, as I only have LG TVs at home. But I do own an Apple TV box, and I can indeed use the Paramount app on it.

According to Paramount’s list, the app should be available on Samsung TV models from 2017 and up.

The selection: not bad, but not big

How large is the selection of titles at launch? Not very. I had feared as much. The numbers below are from Just Watch. The hyperlinks will take you directly to the complete overview for each streaming service. Alternatively, you can search for a specific series or movie to find out where you can stream, buy or rent it – more on that in this past article of mine. And now, back to Paramount+:

In Switzerland, the selection counts 555 titles.

For comparison:

The marginally more expensive Disney+ counts 2,304 titles.
The cheaper Amazon Prime Video subscription counts 6,515 titles.
Netflix, the most expensive streaming service in the world, counts 7,277 titles.
Only AppleTV+, which is cheaper, has a smaller selection with 147 titles.

Fair enough – but quality over quantity. I’ve written an article on this topic in connection with Netflix. My question is, who in the world has the time to watch thousands of movies and series? It is much more important to keep subscribers happy with fewer but consistent hits – for example, with successful series such as «Squid Game», «Stranger Things», «The Mandalorian» or «The Boys».

The overview: all good

In terms of design, Paramount is quite similar to Disney+. At the top, there are six little tiles – Paramount calls them brands – that offer an initial, rough sorting of content. These are: Paramount+ Originals, Showtime, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and the Smithsonian Channel (for documentaries). Clicking on the logo takes you to the corresponding content. Feels familiar. I like.

Interestingly, in the desktop version of Paramount+, the tiles are coloured.
Source: Luca Fontana

After I click Comedy Central, I’m hit again by just how small the Paramount+ selection currently is; it contains only «South Park» content. There’s no «Key and Peele», no «Robot Chicken», no «Drawn Together» – and no other Comedy Central classics, either. Unfortunately, the «Originals» section is only slightly more abundant. It includes, among others, the «Halo» series (which has been available on Sky Show since the beginning of the year), «1883» and «Star Trek: Strange New Worlds». I count a total of 36 in-house productions. Another 150 are to be added by 2025.

My mood improves once I get an overview of the entire catalogue. As I scroll on, I do, in fact, come across top brands like Mission Impossible», «Top Gun», «Star Trek», «Terminator», «Sonic», «Scream», almost the entire «Transformers» franchise (only «Bumblebee» is missing), «La La Land», «A Quiet Place» (though only part one), «The Godfather», «Pulp Fiction», «The Good Wife» and so on. «Top Gun: Maverick» will also be available to stream starting 22 December. The selection of titles isn’t so shabby after all.

But – there’s a big but for people in the French-speaking part of Switzerland and Ticino.

Scrolling through Paramount+ on desktop. Video: Luca Fontana.

Language options: puny! Streaming quality: meh ...

I haven’t gone through all 555 titles, but I have yet to find a single piece of content that provides audio or subtitles in languages other than English and German. Not a single one.

«You’ve got to be kidding me,» I find myself muttering.

This may not be a problem for those in the German-speaking part of Switzerland or English speakers. But I suppose no one informed Paramount that Switzerland has several national languages. Even on Paramount’s official FAQ page, there’s zero information to be found on whether French or Italian will ever be added. You’d think it wouldn’t be difficult to do, as the platform launched in France and Italy just a few weeks ago, meaning the files are available somewhere on some Paramount server. That’s a pretty lousy way to start.

Audio and subtitles are available only in German and English. I expected better, Paramount.
Source: Luca Fontana

And there’s another downer: all content is available in «only» HD. This is a shortcoming Paramount+ shares with Sky Show – and it really shouldn’t exist in 2022. All other providers have long since switched to UHD resolution and HDR or even Dolby Vision. With that, it’s fitting that the sound is only available in Dolby Digital 5.1.

Verdict: not worth 12 francs a month

As is so often the case with a new streaming service, the offer is tiny, the price steep. Disney+ and AppleTV+ were no different (mind you, AppleTV is still tiny despite its lower price). So, when I say that I wouldn’t pay 12 francs a month for Paramount+ today, I’m not saying that I don’t see a future for this streaming service. But given the highly segmented streaming service market, Paramount+ needs to deliver significantly more to achieve long-term success in this country.

Paramount’s close cooperation with Sky, which has been going on for years, is likely to prove tricky; many Paramount+ originals are already available on Sky Show. Some notable examples include the drama version of «The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air» and the «Halo» series. Why’s this even the case? Well, there’s an exclusive deal between Sky and Paramount in Europe. Anyone subscribed to Sky Show also gets all Paramount+ original productions at no additional cost. Conversely, those without a Sky subscription should still be able to access Paramount movies and series on Sky’s video-on-demand service (i.e. you should still be able to buy or rent the content on an individual basis) –

so states Paramount’s press release. Swiss online magazine «vybe» has countered this. It claims to have learned from first-hand sources that the division of Paramount+ content will not be so clear-cut after all. Contrary to the original announcement, some in-house productions will reportedly be distributed exclusively on Sky, others only on Paramount, and still others on both platforms. To sum it up: it’s complicated.

Cover image: Luca Fontana.

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Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.

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