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Paramount Plus launches in the UK – here’s how to start watching

Viewers in the UK can stream shows like ‘Star Trek’, ‘South Park’ and ‘Frasier’

Steve Hogarty

Wednesday 22 June 2022 12:20 BST

It costs just £6.99 per month, but Sky Cinema subscribers can get it for free (Paramount)

Paramount Plus has finally launched in the UK and Ireland. From 22 June, Sky Q customers with a Sky Cinema subscription will receive the new channel as a free upgrade – so it’s worth checking your telly now.

Viewers without a Sky Cinema subscription can sign up for a free seven day trial and start watching shows on the new platform straight away. The streaming service costs £6.99 per month and joins the ranks of a growing crowd of services competing for our limited attention spans and entertainment budgets.

Originally launched in the US in 2021, Paramount Plus is home to an enormous library of new and classic movies from the legendary studios of Paramount Pictures, as well as catalogues of popular TV shows from channels like Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon.

Since its American debut, the fast-growing platform has seen its modest subscriber count soar to almost 40 million in the US. Meanwhile its main rival Netflix (which still commands more than 200 million customers around the world) reported its first subscriber decline in more than a decade.

The launch of Paramount Plus in the UK coincides with the release of several big-ticket shows, some of which are exclusive to the platform. These include Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Discovery and the live-action videogame tie-in Halo. The availability of classic MTV and Comedy Central shows like Beavis and Butthead and South Park should also help corner the lucrative guy-in-their-mid-to-late-30s demographic.

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To help bring Paramount Plus to the UK, owner ViacomCBS is partnering with Sky Group in the UK, which means freebies for some Sky members. Sky Q customers will be able to add the new streaming service to their existing plan, and Sky Cinema customers will get Paramount Plus included for free.

If you’re not a Sky customer, there’s still ways to get a better deal on Paramount Plus. You can pay for an annual Paramount Plus subscription to get an effective discount of £13.98 per year.

Paramount Plus: £6.99 per month, Paramountplus.com

(Paramount)

Release date and price

Paramount Plus launched in the UK and Ireland on 22 June, with more European countries to follow later on this year. The streaming service is available to watch via the web browser, or as a standalone app on smart TVs and plug-in streaming devices.

Paramount Plus costs £6.99 per month or £69.90 per year. Sky Cinema subscribers will have Paramount Plus included in their plan for free.

In the US, viewers can pay half-price ($4.99 per month) to watch a version of Paramount Plus with ad breaks. There’s no word yet on whether a similarly priced, ad-supported version of the streaming service will launch in the UK.

Will there be a free trial?

Yes. New subscribers in the UK can try out Paramount Plus with a free seven-day trial when they first sign up to the service.

You can cancel at any time during your trial. Otherwise, your subscription will kick in at £6.99 per month once the trial period ends.

How to watch

Like most other streaming services, you can watch Paramount Plus in your web browser by heading to Paramountplus.com.

Paramount Plus is available as a downloadable app on most devices, phones, tablets and smart TVs. This includes devices from Apple, Roku, Google and Samsung, as well as the Fire TV stick range from Amazon.

Following a deal between ViacomCBS and Sky to bring the service to the UK, Paramount Plus is also available as a Sky Q app and is free for Sky Cinema subscribers.

What channels are included in Paramount Plus?

Paramount Plus includes more than 30,000 episodes and movies from channels including CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures.

Paramount Plus shows

Paramount is home to some giant franchises, which we expect will start being yanked from rival streaming services very soon, as well as original programming and popular kids’ shows.

Animated comedy South Park and all of the new and upcoming Star Trek shows have already been confirmed for the streaming service. This includes sci-fi hits like Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Paramount is also home to Jackass, which recently announced a return to television following the runaway success of its 2022 movie spin-off, Jackass Forever.

But if you’re looking for more intellectual programming, the service will also offer the entire back catalogues of Paw Patrol and SpongeBob SquarePants.

Is Paramount Plus free with Prime?

Sadly, no. While US viewers were able to add the Paramount Plus channel to their Prime Video app, a Paramount Plus subscription is required to watch content.

Is Paramount Plus be free with Sky?

In the UK, a partnership between ViacomCBS and Sky makes Paramount Plus free for Sky Cinema subscribers. This tie-up makes it unlikely we’ll see a similar discount for Prime Video members.

When is Paramount Plus coming to Sky?

Paramount Plus launched as a new Sky Q app on 22 June. If you already subscribe to the Sky Cinema package, you should see the Paramount Plus app appear automatically.

If not, you’ll just need to add Paramount Plus to your Sky package before you can see and access it. Your Paramount Plus subscription should then appear as part of your monthly Sky bill, just as add-ons like Netflix and Disney Plus do.

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