Netflix's newest rival starts streaming today

Paramount+ launches today to give the world exactly what it needs during a pandemic-another streaming app service. Even though we were aiming for sarcasm with that comment, there are statistics showing that streamers are doing well. Disney+, with its highly recognizable brand and videos for just about everyone, said last month that it had 94.9 million subscribers and forecast that it would have 230 million to 260 million by 2024.

With content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic, Disney+ has enough movies, television shows, and documentaries to suit everyone. It also has the most streamed program in the world right now with Marvel's WandaVision MCU spinoff. The leading streamer on the planet, Netflix, had over 203 million global subscribers as of the end of last quarter. Last May, HBO Max became the newest streamer and was guaranteed a decent-sized viewing audience thanks to the $425 million it shelled out to be the exclusive streaming home for popular sit-com Friends.

Until March 31st, you can get a one month free trial of Paramount+. After your free month is over, subscription rates in the U.S. start at $5.99 per month for the service (more on this below). Most of the current television shows on the service come from CBS/Viacom and there are listings that you will be familiar with including cop drama Blue Bloods, starring Tom Selleck (just don't let him talk about reverse mortgages), courtroom hit Bull, and police drama FBI. There are also older shows in the Paramount+ library such as Hot in Cleveland and Reno 911. Paramount+ is also the exclusive streaming home for the RuPaul's Drag Race franchise.

Just like its rivals, Paramount+ will try to attract subscribers by producing original content including Kamp Koral, an animated series about Sponge Bob's younger years. A Frasier reboot starring Kelsey Grammer is on tap and popular kids' show Rugrats is back with new episodes, this time created using CGI. Programming for the streamer comes from CBS, BET, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV, and the Smithsonian Channel.

The Paramount+ app is available from the Google Play Store and the App Store which means that it is available for all Android phones and tablets and can be installed on all iPhone units, the iPod touch and iPad slates. It also can be used with Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, Portal TV, PlayStation 4, Samsung TV, Vizio TV, LG TV, Roku, Xbox, and Xfinity Flex. There are two subscription options for Paramount+ subscribers. The one with Limited Commercials offers over "30,000 episodes and movies, originals, live sports and news with limited commercial interruptions" and is priced at $5.99 a month or $59.99 for a year (which works out to more than a 15% savings for paying a year in advance).

The second subscriber option is ad-free service. Besides watching content without ads, those with this tier of service are allowed to download content to view offline. The price of this subscription tier is $9.99 per month, or $99.99 for a full year of service. (Pay a year in advance to receive a 15% discount). Each subscription allows content to be viewed over three devices simultaneously and profiles can be created for each member of your family. With Paramount+, users can cancel or change their plan at any time. Thus, there are no commitments.

Demand for major streaming services has been on the rise. Recently Disney+ was able to hike its monthly subscription price from $6.99 a month to $7.99 a month. While that doesn't sound like a huge increase for Disney+ members, it is a big deal for Disney since it adds over $90 million a month or over $1 billion into Disney's coffers over the course of one year.