Marco Nobili, Beverley McGarvey Talk Paramount+ in AsiaPac

The ATF Leaders Dialogue slate of sessions today ahead of the market’s official opening tomorrow included Marco Nobili and Beverley McGarvey discussing the crucial role of partnerships in Paramount+’s expansion plans.

Nobili, EVP and international general manager of Paramount+, appeared via video conference from Tokyo following Paramount+’s Japanese launch event this week. He referred to the Japanese launch as a key milestone for the streamer as it builds its global presence, which now covers 45 markets. Japan follows the other key regional launches of Korea, in partnership with CJ ENM, and Australia.

“We’ve taken the approach of a multiplatform, multi-revenue-stream strategy,” Nobili said. “Partnerships are key to our success. We were the first to take that path. We’ve done it in Europe with partners like Sky. We’ve done it in Asia with partners like CJ ENM. We’re doing it in Japan with J:COM and WOWOW. It allows us to bring the best of Paramount and the great mountain of entertainment we have globally, along with local partners and local content.”

McGarvey, executive VP and chief content officer at Paramount ANZ, also stressed the importance of partnerships for Paramount+ in Australia. “We do have a direct-to-consumer business, but we also partner with Origin, an energy company, and Qantas. We also partner with companies like Amazon. Those are important, along with the partnerships with Samsung, LG, Hisense and others that allow us to be on all of the platforms we need to be on.”

Nobili noted that partnerships can take many forms, highlighting that the Korean launch with CJ covers both distribution on TVING, its local streaming platform, and co-production and content development.

Local content is key alongside Paramount’s considerable slate from the U.S. “We get a fantastic pipeline of global content in all genres,” McGarvey said. “We also have a business that allows us to tap into formats; we recently announced Aussie Shore. We have NCIS: Sydney. Those can go into the ecosystem globally. We get better utility out of that content. Also, a lot of content premieres on Paramount+, but down the line we can utilize it on other platforms. From an investment capability, it allows to get better utility, and better utility means better monetization.”

With a footprint now covering 45 territories, “We want to scale the markets we’re in,” Nobili noted on further expansion for the platform, with a key focus on building reach via distribution partnerships. Monetization is also a core priority, with the recent rollout of a premium tier in select markets. The platform has also made a mobile tier available in some markets as it looks to appeal to different demos and is bringing an ad tier to Australia and Canada.

The platform ends 2023 with a base of more than 63 million subs globally. “We’ve been the fastest-growing service in many of these markets,” Nobili noted. “In 2024, we want to continue to see that growth happening for all our markets. I remain bullish on how the SVOD market is growing, with and without advertising.”