Credit: Hannah Wernecke on Unsplash
Paramount is cutting down on low-value streaming subscribers while lifting revenue per user, naming Australia alongside the US, Canada and Latin America in a strategy shift that changes the audience composition advertisers are buying against on Paramount+.
For advertisers, the shift points to a smaller but potentially more commercially valuable audience as Paramount reduces reliance on heavily discounted bundle subscribers.
Australia joined those markets in a January price increase across Paramount+'s Essential and Premium plans, the first since August 2024, with the company saying results are in line with expectations.
Paramount+ ended the quarter with 79.6 million paid subscribers globally, up 700,000 on a reported basis.
Underlying growth was nearly two million, with more than one million international hard bundle subscribers removed during the March quarter and a further approximately two million exits flagged for Q2.
Bundle subscribers typically come through broadband and telco partnerships where Paramount+ is offered at little or no direct cost, generating significantly lower revenue per user than direct subscribers.
Australia has featured comparable bundle and promotional arrangements, with Paramount+ available through Optus' SubHub streaming platform and offered free for a year to new Origin Broadband customers.
Paramount Connect allows Australian media buyers to generate unified proposals executed directly across Network 10 streaming and Paramount+ in a single transaction, a capability the company says has been in place since Paramount+ launched locally.
Australia's total internet advertising market hit a record $4.9 billion in Q1 2026, up 15.3% year-on-year, according to the IAB’s Australia Internet Advertising Revenue Report, prepared by PwC.
Video was the fastest-growing segment, up 20.4% to $1.4 billion.
Paramount also extended its A-Leagues rights through 2028-29 following what the Australian Professional Leagues described as an extensive open market process, with A-League viewing on Paramount+ up 55% since the 2021-22 season.
The current season reached 4.4 million Australians across Paramount+ and Network 10.
Matildas and Socceroos rights run through 2028.
Telsyte put Paramount+ at 2.1 million Australian subscribers in mid-2025, fifth in the market and the fastest-growing major service that year.
Paramount declined to comment.
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