Paramount+ Picks Up Ghosts

Paramount+ has acquired the exclusive U.S. SVOD rights to the comedy Ghosts, from CBS Studios, BBC Studios and Lionsgate.

In addition to Paramount+’s existing in-season rights, beginning this fall, the service will be the exclusive year-round SVOD home of Ghosts. The series has been the number one most-watched new broadcast half-hour comedy in four years and is the number one comedy on Paramount+ to date.

Ghosts is based on the British series of the same name and comes from Lionsgate’s partnership with BBC Studios’ Los Angeles production arm. The series follows a couple who learn that their new dream house is inhabited by ghosts.

The cast includes Rose McIver, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Brandon Scott Jones, Richie Moriarty, Asher Grodman, Rebecca Wisocky, Sheila Carrasco, Danielle Pinnock, Roman Zaragoza and Devan Chandler Long. Joe Port and Joe Wiseman are showrunners.

“Ghosts is one of the biggest comedy hits in years and one of the most talked about shows,” said Tanya Giles, chief programming officer at Paramount+. “It is the perfect addition to the fantastic pipeline of content driving peak streaming at Paramount+.”

“With fresh story lines, an incredible cast and a brilliant creative team, Ghosts is that rare television series that taps into the popular zeitgeist to become a cultural phenomenon,” said Jim Packer, president of the worldwide television distribution group at Lionsgate, who negotiated the deal with Barbara Zaneri, chief program acquisitions officer for Paramount Global.

“Kevin Beggs, Sandra Stern, Scott Herbst and their teams have formed an amazing collaboration with Valerie Bruce and Angie Stephenson at BBC Studios, along with Rachel Bendavid, who leads our co-production partnership, and the CBS Studios team to adapt their hit British format into a blockbuster success in the U.S.,” Packer continued. “And we built on our long-standing relationship with Paramount Global to orchestrate a complex, multi-faceted agreement that brings Ghosts to Paramount+ for years to come.”

David Stapf, president of CBS Studios, added, “Since the series premiere, Ghosts has found passionate viewers—both on CBS and Paramount+. Ratings and online conversation about the show have grown virtually every week, and the series is the number one new comedy by a huge margin. The best part is that viewers are still finding this unique and brilliant series, and this new SVOD agreement will help further that discovery process in a big way.”