A lot of people are paying for Paramount+ to watch Halo and Star Trek: Picard, even if neither series has been particularly outstanding. On Tuesday, Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS) announced that it added 6.8 million new Paramount+ subscribers in the first quarter of 2022. With those additions, the platform has almost 40 million customers. Among other content, the company credited its original programming, including the aforementioned Halo and Star Trek: Picard, for the continued growth of Paramount+.
In turn, that subscriber growth contributed to an increase in the company’s bottom line, with revenue from the service growing by 148 percent year-on-year to $585 million in Q1 2022. “The first quarter once again demonstrated the power and potential of Paramount’s unique assets and the company’s continued momentum,” said Paramount Global CEO and President Bob Bakish.”
Paramount’s success is particularly notable given Netflix’s recent struggles. Last month, the streaming giant announced that it lost about 200,000 customers in the first quarter of 2022, marking its first subscriber drop in a decade. The company has since embarked on a series of cost-cutting measures, canceling series like Space Force and gutting the editorial staff of its Tudum fansite.