Paramount Plus reshaped the streaming wars when it launched in 2021 as a rebrand of CBS All Access. Originally started to unlock CBS programming, the newly merged ViacomCBS supercharged Paramount+ with diverse content libraries spanning Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Pictures, and more.
But despite rave reviews for its unique blend of new movies, exclusive Star Trek shows, NFL games, 24/7 live news, and both nostalgic and current hit series, subscriptions inevitably ebb and flow as budgets tighten. Read on for an expert guide on smoothly cancelling – plus strategic insights navigating today‘s cord-cutting landscape if going that route.
A Rebrand and Mega Merger Set the Stage
To start, let‘s examine the key moments that distinguish Paramount Plus against predecessors like Netflix or even its earlier CBS All Access iteration.
As recently as 2019, CBS was nascent in the streaming ecosystem despite its broadcast dominance and coveted IP, from 60 Minutes to Carpool Karaoke. Bucking initial reluctance, CBS announced plans to rebrand CBS All Access as Paramount+ in September 2020 to signal bigger ambitions.
The icing on the cake came in August 2021 when ViacomCBS closed a $30 billion mega merger deal to bring aboard entertainment brands like Comedy Central, BET, MTV, Nickelodeon, and the Paramount film studio itself.
With thousands of iconic movies and series primed for the streaming age – plus pipelines of fresh originals – Paramount Plus could rival Netflix and Disney as a one-stop shop for entertainment.
Early reviews glowed: "breadth and quality…near the top of the market" raved The New York Times in 2022. Beyond just numbers, Paramount also invests heavily in exclusive franchises like Star Trek and South Park to drive passionate engagement.
Let‘s crunch a few key statistics as context before assessing cancellation itself:
- Paramount Plus / Showtime streaming revenue hit $3.09 billion in 2022
- Added 4.6 million subscribers in Q3 2022, reaching nearly 67 million globally
- Viewership milestone of 1 billion streaming hours in a quarter achieved in late 2022
- Projecting as high as 100 million subscribers by 2024
With Paramount Plus firmly positioned now among elite streaming heavyweights, the choice between keeping or cutting the cost deserves careful evaluation.
Weighing Key Pros and Cons of Cancellation
Assuming you directly subscribed through Amazon‘s Prime Video Channels, the ability to cancel Paramount Plus rests just a few clicks away. But before rushing into that permanent decision, let‘s analyze the core benefits you would surrender – plus any upside to dropping the service.
Pros
| Cancelling Paramount Plus… | |
|---|---|
| Saves up to $120 per year depending on membership type | Compound even more savings by also cancelling other unused streaming services |
| Frees up screen real estate if Prime Video access now cluttered | Streamline your preferred platforms that offer the most beloved shows |
| Avoid forgetting to pause auto-renewals in future | Set alerts before next billing cycle regardless to confirm choice |
| Pausing membership but retaining profile info makes resubscribing easier later | If temporarily tight budget, still continue your watch progress in future |
Cons
| Cancelling Paramount Plus… | |
|---|---|
| Lose access to 75,000+ hours of shows, movies, sports | That‘s over 8 years of content if watching 24/7! |
| Missing acclaimed originals and franchises | No more Star Trek Discovery, Halo, 1923, Criminal Minds: Evolution or future series |
| Loss of live sports like NFL, UEFA Champions League, more | Crucial as cord-cutting fans lose access to coveted matches |
| Can‘t easily browse 45,000+ movie catalog | Including new theatrical releases like Top Gun: Maverick just 45-90 days after theaters |
| News junkies left without CBS News / CBS Sports HQ | 24/7 live breaking news and reporting |
| Kids lose Nickelodeon, Comedy Central shows | Hard to replace nostalgic vaults from Spongebob and Chappelle‘s Show to Avatar: The Last Airbender |
As the tables illustrate, Paramount Plus competitively delivers exclusive originals spanning Star Trek to Taylor Sheridan‘s growing TV universe (Yellowstone!). Combined with continual news access, iconic kids content, boosted movie deals and live sports, the scale substantiates the $9.99 Premium plan costs for many households.
But your mileage may vary – detail out your personal viewing habits, budgets and what content resonates most before deciding. Getting granular with your individual and family preferences is crucial.
For example, diehard Star Trek fans surely don‘t want to lose access to new shows like Strange New Worlds, Discovery or Picard. Evaluate across all members though – are the kids really only watching Netflix and Apple TV+ instead? Then savings add up dropping Paramount Plus without huge loss.
Next let‘s walkthrough the required steps cancelling through Prime Video Channels.
Step-by-Step Guide: How To Cancel Paramount Plus on Amazon
Fortunately, Amazon makes cancellation straightforward if you subscribed to Paramount Plus through Prime Video channels. You can easily disable auto-renewals and stop further charges in just a few clicks:
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Login via desktop internet browser (not mobile) at Amazon.com
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Hover over Account & Lists > Select Prime Video
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Click Account profile icon > Click Account Settings
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Under Settings > Click Manage Your Prime Video Channels
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Find Paramount Plus Channel > Click Cancel Channel on right
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Confirm cancellation by clicking Turn Off Auto-Renew
Selecting "Turn Off Auto-Renew" ensures your access and profile data sticks around until the next billing cycle without further charges or headaches.
Once cancelled, Paramount Plus disappears from both your Prime Video channels list and the main Prime Video app nav. And you have the peace of mind of dodging another monthly fee!
Tip: Always cancel via desktop site – mobile screens hide some required menu options.
Let‘s quickly cover reactivating too since cancelling through Amazon lets you restart the membership down the road if wanted.
To Resubscribe After Cancellation
If a new Star Trek series gets announced or you realize how much you miss NFL on CBS…resubscribing to Paramount Plus after cancelling just requires repeating the Prime Video sign up flow:
- Revisit Manage Your Prime Video Channels in account settings
- Locate Paramount Plus channel again
- Click Add Channel instead to reactivate
Just note that any promotional or discounted pricing won‘t carry over after cancellation – you‘ll now pay full monthly retail rates. Factor that into any buyer‘s remorse before pulling the plug!
Competitive Analysis: How Paramount Plus Stacks Up
Even though Paramount Plus might cost as much per month as leading streamers like Netflix or Hulu, keep scale and content breadth in perspective while deciding.
In particular, Paramount Plus shines for its live sports access combined with current CBS shows unavailable elsewhere. Evaluating competitive differentiation matters when choosing what service provides the highest unique value.
| Streaming Service | Monthly Cost | Exclusive Content | Live TV | Ads? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paramount Plus Premium | $9.99 | NFL, Star Trek, MTV/Comedy Central shows | ✅ | ❌ |
| Netflix | $15.50 | Stranger Things, Ozark | ❌ | ❌ |
| Hulu | $7.99 | The Handmaid‘s Tale, Only Murders in the Building | Optional | Optional |
| HBO Max | $14.99 | House of the Dragon, The White Lotus | ❌ | ❌ |
| Apple TV+ | $6.99 | Ted Lasso, Severance | ❌ | ❌ |
| Disney+ | $10.99 | Star Wars, Marvel movies | ❌ | ❌ |
| Peacock Premium | $4.99 | The Office, NFL Sunday Night Football | Partial | ❌ |
The big differentiators revealed above? Live sports + a treasure trove of nostalgic comedies and kids content unavailable elsewhere. That‘s an immense amount of entertainment even if you ignore brand new releases.
Yes, dedicated services like ESPN+, NBA League Pass or NFL Sunday Ticket offer more comprehensive live game access at an even steeper price. But Paramount Plus striking landmark deals with AFC rights, UEFA soccer, NCAA championships and more gives cord cutters crucial fixtures that previously required cable bundles.
And no one can rival pulling up Nickelodeon classics from the ‘90s or binging Chappelle Show episodes. Bringing onboard this comedy and culture vault catapults Paramount Plus‘ back catalog utility.
Review the above grid against your personal preferences to discern if paying $9.99 a month fits versus the loss of perks dropping instead of a different streaming platform.
Next let‘s examine how strategic licensing and acquisitions further boost Paramount Plus‘ market positioning.
How Paramount Plus Wins Streaming‘s Content Wars
Beyond just pricing, Paramount Global constantly evolves its streaming content strategy to keep pace with media transformation. Two recent major licensing deals in particular reinforce Paramount Plus‘ platform advantages that you would surrender cancelling your subscription.
1. Landmark NFL Partnership
Cementing itself as a must-have for football fans, Paramount Plus secured long-term National Football League rights in late 2022 worth a staggering $2 billion annually.
Spanning 2023-2033, this landmark agreement gives Paramount Plus exclusive national streaming rights to air all Thursday Night Football games. CBS also retains linear rights, ensuring the NFL stays on national broadcast television.
But more crucially, the cross-platform programming access prevents Thursday games from being walled off on a niche streaming network like Amazon Prime Video. Casual viewers can now catch contests without requiring yet another subscription service.
And Paramount Plus subscribers benefit with enhanced NFL offerings all week long – from the return of Emmy-winning Inside the NFL to editoral coverage across CBS Sports properties.
This high-profile partnership indicates a doubling down on sports to combat subscriber churn. Paramount Global plainly acknowledges live sporting events rank among the last vestiges reliably anchoring linear TV viewership. Now secured for the next decade, Paramount Plus becomes far stickier for football fans.
2. UEFA Champions League Rights Through 2030
Further emphasizing its sports advantage, Paramount Plus already streams more soccer than any U.S. platform after extending UEFA broadcasting rights in 2022 at an estimated $250 million annually.
Paramount Plus now holds exclusive English and Spanish rights for the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League across all matches through 2030.
With the UEFA Champions League final consistently ranking as the world‘s most watched annual sporting event, soccer fans lose big cancelling Paramount Plus. Rival streamers can‘t match this volume of prestige European matches.
Between the NFL partnership and unrivaled soccer access, Paramount strategically combines must-see live sports with acclaimed originals and deep vault pulls. Stack up your personal preferences before cancelling and losing it all!
Showtime Merger Signals Streaming‘s Next Era
Beyond just sporting events, Paramount Plus subscribers in 2023 should also track seismic shifts spurred by merging with premium cable network Showtime.
In October 2022, Paramount Global announced plans to rebrand Showtime streaming services under the Paramount Plus name by mid-2023. Thisetechnically doubles available content libraries overnight.
But more importantly, Showtime boasts a war chest of acclaimed original series like Billions, Dexter and The Chi plus an estimted 30 million domestic subscribers. Paramount Plus folding in this network signals its ambition competing for share of viewers and household budgets.
Bloomberg aptly summarized the implications in October 2022:
"The merger adds heft to Paramount’s position in streaming — gobbling up more TV shows and movies. But it also ends confusion over choosing between the two brands."
With 50 new original Showtime series now in development under the combined Paramount Plus banner, cancelling means walking away from this explosive growth.
Give in your notice now, and by 2024 Paramount Plus evolves into a 100+ million subscriber behemoth anchored by Star Trek, South Park, new Taylor Sheridan projects and the Showtime pipeline of hits. Tough to quit with transformations ahead!
Battling Cord-Cutting Trends and Recession Fears
Stepping back, the mergers and partnerships clearly indicate Paramount Plus stands ready to battle ongoing industry turbulence: cord-cutting, streaming saturation, inflationary pressures and even looming recession risk.
Amid Netflix stock cratering in 2022 and AMC Networks considering sale, how does Paramount Plus weather ongoing streaming uncertainty?
In short: Paramount hedged bets early on live sports and news.
These two categories rank among the most resilient against viewership declines compared to scripted entertainment. Paramount wagered $2 billion securing NFL rights through 2033 for precisely this reason – fans still carve out time for big matchups.
And as economic jitters drive audiences to stay updated on market volatility, Paramount Plus now delivers 24/7 live breaking news access from CBS affiliates and CBS News HQ that most rivals can‘t match at scale.
Thus despite bleak recession predictions ahead, Paramount Plus enters any downturn backed by live sports symmetry across broadcast/streaming and unyielding news coverage.
Savvy efficient spending like scooping up UEFA soccer rights through 2030 further insulates Paramount Plus from choppy conditions. Compared to burn-rate leaders like Netflix still pouring billions into originals, Paramount Plus proves far smarter optimizing spend.
Don‘t underestimate underdog Paramount Plus! Management clearly learned from missteps battling disruptors before (RIP Blockbuster) and moved decisively to lock in differentiating advantages.
Key Takeaways Before You Cancel
And there you have it: a comprehensive walkthrough on smoothly cancelling Paramount Plus plus strategic insights into the service‘s favorable positioning relative to competitors now and in 2024.
Review the key takeaways below before submitting that cancellation request:
- Cancellation only takes a few minutes via Amazon account settings
- But reactivating forces repaying full standard pricing
- Losing 75,000+ hours of movies, shows and sports adds up
- Paramount Plus lands major NFL, UEFA soccer rights through 2030s
- Showtime bringing 50+ new originals by mid-2023
- Resilient sports + news coverage hedge cord-cutting risks
As you weigh the pros and cons, don‘t underestimate what you would surrender from that content breadth and vision forward. And if budget truly forces a tough call? Paramount Plus may prove one of the smarter long-term holds relative to alternatives battling churn.
Either way – all the steps outlined above ensure you can easily cancel OR resusbcribe Paramount Plus via Amazon Prime Video Channels anytime as preferences evolve.
Now it‘s time to sit back and let Paramount Plus, Netflix, HBO Max or whichever services you decide cater to your 2024 streaming needs. Enjoy!
