Look, I know we are supposed to be "hype men" for Paramount+. We also criticize them for certain things, like their show-windowing strategy (even though it's not 100% their fault). But seeing the shift toward the platform's audience feels so refreshing after 5 years of confusion and a lack of will among most customers to watch.
Mind you, Paramount gutted most of its communications and marketing team, even before the merger. You can tell by their lack of presence on social media platforms like X and Instagram and by the lack of ads outside their platforms for their non-Sheridan/UFC/NFL content.
But go on Paramount+ (in the US) right now and look for the Top 10 Shows list. Even though the list changes periodically throughout the day, you can see a sense of variety in what consumers are watching. There's the usual entry for South Park and SpongeBob SquarePants, and the Sheridan shows like Dutton Ranch, Marshals, and Landman, but recently I've seen more shows in the entry than usual.
Shows from the BET library, like The Oval (which is in its final season), the BET+ originals All The Queen's Men and Zatima, the Showtime original The CHI (last season as well), and the unpromoted Among Us series, are doing numbers for the platform along with some CBS staples like NCIS and Everybody Loves Raymond.
But previously, the Top 10 list didn't look like that. It used to be dominated solely by CBS shows and the occasional SpongeBob ranking. One of the main factors that is in play is that 1) CBS shows were in Paramount+'s demographics for the previous leadership and still are under David Ellison and Cindy Holland; but it's 2) CBS.com and the CBS app uses the same algorithm as Paramount+. Not sure if the upcoming platform upgrades will affect it as much if CBS doesn't get those upgrades, but hey, it's all under the single streaming division, so who knows.
And that's not to shame the success of the CBS shows. They rank among the most-watched content on TV, helping compete with Netflix. But with Cindy Holland and her team's plans to overhaul and expand the platform's reach, they have to capitalize on what they have right now. So far, it's turning out great for them. Coming up are more BET+ originals premiering their new seasons on Paramount+, as well as more licensed content from third-party studios.
I'm keeping this article short (cause I'm on vacation) and it's more of an extension of my previous piece on BET+. Still, I wanted to shine a light on this sudden shift in what the audience is watching on Paramount+, and that's all a good thing for Paramount's plan IF they integrate HBO Max into the fold. Good luck!