By Helen Coster and Eva Mathews
(Reuters) - ViacomCBS (NASDAQ:VIAC) Inc said on Wednesday it expects to reach as many as 75 million global streaming subscribers by the end of 2024, with global streaming revenue to rise to more than $7 billion by that time.
"This is a ViacomCBS that is being reimagined for a new kind of marketplace and a new kind of consumer," said Chair Shari Redstone.
In a presentation to investors after releasing fourth-quarter results, the company laid out plans for its Paramount+ streaming service.
The home to MTV, Nickelodeon and Showtime is launching the service - an expanded version of its existing CBS All Access streamer - on March 4 with a $9.99 per month ad-free version and in June with a $4.99 ad-supported version.
In its fourth-quarter results, ViacomCBS said it had amassed 30 million global paid subscribers to All Access and other streaming properties, including 19.2 million U.S. subscribers.
Paramount+ will be competing in a crowded streaming landscape dominated by Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX), which has 200 million subscribers, and Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) Co's Disney+, with 94.9 million subscribers.
CBS launched All Access in 2014. The company's 2019 merger with Viacom, a sister company also controlled by the Redstone family, allowed for more content on the service, including films from Paramount Pictures. Paramount+ will have more than 2500 movies.
ViacomCBS hopes to distinguish Paramount+ from other streaming services through an emphasis on live sports and news. It will launch Paramount+ in the United States, Canada and Latin America on March 4; in the Nordics on March 25, and in Australia in mid-2021.
On Wednesday Chief Executive Bob Bakish said that in 2021, Paramount+ will debut 36 original series across different genres.
The company will be bringing back the music documentary series "Behind the Music" to Paramount+, as well as "Frasier," the final season of "Younger" and a new weekly show hosted by Trevor Noah, among other programming.
Some new Paramount films will go exclusively to Paramount+ 30 to 45 days after theatrical release, Bakish said. All other new Paramount movies will appear on Paramount+ after their theatrical release, some as early as 90 days.
"Mission: Impossible 7" will debut in theaters on Nov. 19 and debut on Paramount+ 45 days later. "A Quiet Place II" will also come to Paramount+ 45 days after its theatrical release. The rest of Paramount's 2021 film slate will be coming to Paramount+ in 2022.
The company posted lower-than-expected quarterly revenue, as the COVID-19 pandemic delayed content production and cut film revenue, despite steady demand for its streaming services.
Revenue rose 3% to $6.87 billion in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. Wall Street's consensus was $6.89 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
The company said not all analysts factored in the pending sale of its publishing division Simon & Schuster, which was agreed in the fourth quarter and was treated as a discontinued operation.
Net earnings attributable to ViacomCBS were $783 million, or $1.26 per share, compared with a loss of $302 million, or 49 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, ViacomCBS earned $1.04 per share, slightly above estimates of $1.02.