Paramount has agreed to provide subscribers to Walmart’s premium service access to its streaming service.
Walmart and Paramount agreed to offer Paramount+, the entertainment company’s streaming service, to Walmart+ subscribers as a free addition. The decision is another step toward the retail service copying Amazon’s success with Prime.
“We know Walmart+ is providing members real value in their every day – from grocery shopping to filling up their tank and more,” Chris Cracchiolo, senior vice president and general manager of Walmart+, said in a press statement. “With the addition of Paramount+, we are demonstrating our unique ability to help members save even more and live better by delivering entertainment for less, too.”
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Walmart+ users will get access to Paramount+ starting in September at no additional cost. Paramount+ includes Star Trek, Halo, Paw Patrol, and other popular franchises. Walmart+ subscriptions currently cost $98 a year, or $12.99 a month.
Executives from Paramount, Disney, and Comcast had spoken to Walmart leadership about adding properties from their catalog to Walmart+, according to a Tuesday New York Times report.
The addition of video streaming to the Walmart+ membership will allow Walmart+ subscribers to receive similar benefits to Amazon’s Prime service, including free shipping, faster checkout, and cheaper gas from Walmart gas pumps.
Walmart has tried to enter the streaming service market in an attempt to hold some element of the entertainment market share in its control. The company invested in the streaming service Vudu in 2010. Walmart sold Vudu to Fandango in 2020 after it failed to make an impact on the digital movie market.
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Walmart+ has maintained steady growth over the last few years. The subscription service had 32 million members in 2021, according to a Deutsche Bank estimate. While Walmart’s subscriptions have stabilized, it is unable to keep up with Amazon Prime’s reports of 172 million members in 2022.
