Paramount Plus, Showtime Top 56 Million Subscribers Combined at End of 2021

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterKal Penn has joined the “Santa Clause” limited series at Disney Plus, Variety has confirmed.The series, which was announced on Jan. 14, will see Tim Allen once again play Santa Claus/Scott Calvin and Elizabeth Mitchell reprising her role as Scott’s wife, Carol Calvin, a.k.a. Mrs.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorParamount Plus is throwing itself a one-year birthday party — by knocking 80% off the price of its subscription plans for three months.Looking to hook new customers, Paramount Plus is offering a special deal from March 1-7 that will let new or returning subscribers use the promo code “BIRTHDAY” to sign up for either the Essential plan (which includes ads) at the discounted rate of $1 per month for three months or the Premium Plan at the discounted rate of $2 per month for three months. After the promo period ends, the normal rates for Paramount Plus Essential ($4.99/month) and Premium ($9.99/month) will apply.The discounts show that Paramount, which just changed its name from ViacomCBS, is firmly in investment mode on the direct-to-consumer streaming front and looking to boost its numbers.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not watched “Fairytale Wedding,” the Feb. 28 episode of NBC’s “The Endgame.”NBC’s new high-octane crime drama “The Endgame” aired its second episode Monday, revealing many more compelling details about its leading ladies — Morena Baccarin’s international arms dealer/crime boss Elena Federova and Ryan Michelle Bathé’s FBI agent Val Turner — than it did in its week-ago series premiere.In the episode, “Fairytale Wedding,” we saw the titular nuptials go up in flames when the church where Elena and her now-husband Sergey Vodianov (Costa Ronin) were to be wed was blown up with everyone they loved inside.

Addie Morfoot ContributorThis year’s documentary Academy Award feature race is historical on many fronts. Four of the five nominated films were directed by people of color; Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s “Flee” made history by scoring three Oscar nominations: not only the doc feature category but also in the animated feature and international feature categories; Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas’ “Writing With Fire” became the first feature doc from India to earn a nom in the race; and four of the six nominated helmers are first-time feature docu directors.But perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this year’s nonfiction feature Oscar race is the dominance of nascent doc distributors and production units.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterJax Media executives Sarah Madigan and John Skidmore have joined Imagine Entertainment, the parent company of Jax, as head of business affairs and strategic partnerships and head of production, respectively, Variety has learned exclusively.Both will continue in their current roles at Jax Media, with Madigan remaining head of business affairs and Skidmore, a founding partner of Jax Media, still chief operating officer of the Imagine Entertainment-owned production company.Skidmore, who will be overseeing all projects across all divisions for Imagine, has produced some of Jax’s most popular titles, including “Broad City,” “Search Party,” “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” “Russian Doll” and the Netflix stand-up specials “Chris Rock: Tamborine,” “John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous” and “Mike Birbiglia: The New One.” Madigan currently runs business affairs at Jax Media and previously held roles at MGM and Netflix.“Skidmore is a founding member of Jax and Madigan has been integral to the company’s growth over the past few years, and we couldn’t imagine doing this new job without them,” Imagine Entertainment presidents Tony Hernandez and Lilly Burns said in a joint statement to Variety.Jax Media co-founders Hernandez and Burns were promoted to co-presidents of Imagine Entertainment in January and continue to lead Jax Media as CEO and CCO, respectively.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterShowtime’s upcoming “The First Lady” anthology series is described as “a revelatory reframing of American leadership, told through the lens of the women at the heart of the White House.” While the first season focuses on icons Michelle Obama (played by Viola Davis), Betty Ford (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Eleanor Roosevelt (Gillian Anderson), the executive producers are not opposed to a potential future season including possibly the most divisive first lady: Melania Trump.During a virtual panel promoting the show at the Television Critics Association’s press tour Wednesday, “The First Lady” showrunner Cathy Schulman and director and executive producer Susanne Bier playfully tossed a reporter’s question about featuring President Donald Trump’s wife as subject before Bier answered definitively, but with a laugh: “Look, I do think that the series could do with a fun season — so let’s talk about that.” Star Anderson, who was sitting on the panel alongside co-star Davis, added: “I think the hope is that there’s going to be future seasons and there will be the opportunity to have many, many more first ladies represented. So maybe not just four — but maybe 104.”But Bier says that no matter how many seasons they do, she’d like to keep the number of first ladies to three per installment for a very specific reason.“Three is a great number for a season because you can do in-depth contrasts, but it’s also incredibly interesting how the three ladies reflect upon each other,” Bier said.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterIna Garten’s new Discovery Plus series, “Be My Guest With Ina Garten,” has been renewed for two additional seasons ahead of its launch on March 26.The show will launch with full episodes on Discovery Plus, to be followed by a “food-centric half-hour” airing on Food Network at 12 p.m. ET, along with the debut of a companion podcast.Season 1 consists of four episodes, rolled out weekly in the same manner as the premiere.“Be My Guest With Ina Garten” features Barefoot Contessa inviting friends old and new to her East Hampton home for a day of conversation, connection, food and fun visits to some of her favorite local spots.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterBon appetit! A cooking competition inspired by culinary legend Julia Child and featuring her “superfans” as contestants has been ordered at Food Network and Discovery Plus, Variety has learned exclusively.Based on the legacy of Child, who motivated generations of home cooks with her talent, enthusiasm and humor, “The Julia Child Challenge” will see eight top-notch home cooks compete in high-stakes culinary challenges to find out who has the fire, skill and passion to win the first-ever primetime competition series dedicated to all things Julia, per the show’s official description. The competitors, all Julia Child superfans, share personal stories about their hero, cook in a kitchen recreated in the likeness of where Julia herself cooked, using the same ingredients Julia used and are even guided by Julia herself through a larger-than-life television screen right in the middle of all the action.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterAMC Networks reported its fourth-quarter 2021 earnings Wednesday, revealing it had reached more than 9 million paid streaming subscribers by the end of 2021. The company also beat Wall Street’s expectations for both its Q4 revenue and profit.AMC Networks previously said it expected to have 9 million streaming subscribers by the end of 2021, and forecast between 20 million to 25 million paid subscribers across its streaming services by 2025.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterParamount Global (formerly known as ViacomCBS) expects to direct-to-consumer content spending to increase to more than $6 billion in 2024, the company revealed Tuesday during its Q4 earnings and streaming investor day presentation.This is a jump from its previous guidance, which was that Paramount expected streaming content spend to exceed $5 billion 2024, including $4 billion of expenses associated with its DTC services. In 2021, Paramount spend $2.2 billion on direct-to-consumer content.Additionally, Paramount CFO Naveen Chopra said that the company formerly known as ViacomCBS is increasing its DTC revenue goal to over $9 billion for 2024.

Zoe Saldana, Billy Bob Thornton to Star in Two Paramount+ Series New 'Yellowstone' Prequel Series '1932' Greenlit at Paramount Plus 'SEAL Team,' 'The Game' and 'Mayor of Kingstown' Renewed at Paramount+ David Boreanaz Dishes on 'SEAL Team' Season 4 Finale, Paramount+ Move

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Yellowstone” prequel “1883” has been renewed for Season 2 at Paramount Plus, and the ViacomCBS-owned streaming service has ordered another Taylor Sheridan-created origin-story show following the Dutton Family called “1932.” Yes, you guessed it — the show will follow a new generation of Duttons “during the time of western expansion, Prohibition and the Great Depression.”“1883″ stars Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Billy Bob Thornton, Isabel May, LaMonica Garrett, Marc Rissmann, Audie Rick, Eric Nelsen and James Landry Hébert.The show follows the Dutton family as they embark on a journey west through the Great Plains toward the last bastion of untamed America. It is a stark retelling of western expansion and an intense study of one family fleeing poverty to seek a better future in America’s promised land — Montana.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaParamount Plus will be the exclusive streaming home for all Paramount Pictures movies beginning in 2024.The announcement, which was made at ViacomCBS’s investor day on Tuesday, is a sign of how much the media giant is investing in its streaming service. It means that the company will forgo lucrative and profitable short-term licensing revenue in order to grow its library of content and with it, build its subscriber base.

Taylor Sheridan's universe is getting bigger.Paramount+ has formally greenlit , a new prequel series following the success of , it was announced Tuesday during ViacomCBS' Investor Day. Additionally, the streaming service has plans for «more» , but came short of announcing a formal season 2 pickup., according to the official synopsis, will follow «a new generation of Duttons during the time of Western expansion, Prohibition and the Great Depression.»“The incredible storytelling and stellar performances behind have fueled phenomenal new records for Paramount+,” said Tanya Giles, chief programming officer at ViacomCBS Streaming, in a statement. “Promoting the series through linear sampling on the Paramount Network during their latest record-breaking season of further enabled us to introduce Sheridan’s loyal audience to this fantastic new series.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterParamount Plus will begin integrating Showtime content this summer, launching an in-app upgrade that includes access to the pay TV channel’s programming, ViacomCBS announced during its Tuesday investor event.“So let’s talk about how we’re helping subscribers access even more of our amazing streaming services, right there in the Paramount Plus app,” Tom Ryan, president and chief executive officer of streaming at ViacomCBS, said during the virtual presentation, which covered the company’s fourth-quarter 2021 results and forward-looking goals for this year. “Our existing bundle, of Paramount Plus and Showtime, has performed very well out of the gate.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Euphoria” hit another series high on Sunday, drawing 5.1 million viewers across multiple platforms, a 20% increase from last week and up 45% from the season average. That number was reached despite the HBO drama airing opposite Super Bowl LVI on NBC.As Variety previously exclusively reported, “Euphoria’s” Season 2 per-episode-viewership average is up nearly 100% from its first season.“Euphoria” Season 2 takes place amidst the intertwining lives in the town of East Highland, where 17-year-old Rue (Zendaya) must find hope while balancing the pressures of love, loss, and addiction.The series stars Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Nika King, Eric Dane, Angus Cloud, Jacob Elordi, Algee Smith, Sydney Sweeney, Alexa Demie, Barbie Ferreira, Maude Apatow, Javon Walton, Dominic Fike, Storm Reid and Austin Abrams.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDiscovery Plus has ordered “Serving the Hamptons,” a spinoff of “Selling the Hamptons” following the “young, sexy restaurant staff” at a hot Hamptons restaurant and all of the drama they dish up on and off the clock, Variety has learned exclusively.Premiering on Thursday, April 7, the five hour-long episodes take viewers into one of the most exclusive enclaves in the world while showcasing the juicy lives of the staff at Southampton’s “it” destination for dining. The show brings viewers inside 75 Main Restaurant as its staffers hook up, argue and work together to make sure the clients come back for more, per the show’s official logline.To attract the best employees to serve his elite clientele of celebrities, politicians and the uber rich, 75 Main owner Zach Erdem provides his staff with a gorgeous beach house — provided they follow his rules and take care of his customers.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Obi-Wan Kenobi” has received a May 25 premiere date at Disney Plus, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced on the company’s earnings call Wednesday.Disney Plus ended 2021 with 129.8 million paying customers worldwide, gaining 11.8 million for the quarter ended Jan. 1, 2022 and blowing past expectations.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Child Care,” Monday’s episode of “9-1-1: Lone Star.”Baby made three for Judd (Jim Parrack) and Grace (Sierra McClain) on last week’s “9-1-1: Lone Star” — and on Monday’s episode, an estranged teen son and his mother made five. Totally unbeknownst to Judd and Grace, he had a son Wyatt (Jackson Pace) with Marlene Harris (Robyn Lively), a barrel racer he can hardly remember having met at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo in 2005.On Monday’s “9-1-1: Lone Star,” that boy comes to find Judd with the help of an online DNA ancestry website and Judd and Grace, just getting the hang of taking care of newborn daughter Charlie following her birth at the tail end of the Fox drama’s weeks-long ice-storm plot.