Paramount+ to raise prices in 2026 following Paramount Skydance merger

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The Paramount+ app can be seen on the display of a smartphone on April 29, 2025 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo Illustration by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES - Paramount+ announced it'll be the latest streaming service to hike prices for consumers. 

What we know:

The Paramount Skydance Corporation made the announcement during an investors' call Monday. 

How much will Paramount+ cost?

What we don't know:

The new price for the streaming service has yet to be announced. 

FCC approves Skydance's $8 billion merger with Paramount

The FCC announced it has approved the $8 billion merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media, putting an end to the yearlong high-stakes saga. The Washington Post's Jeremy Barr joins LiveNOW's Andrew Craft to discuss.

What they're saying:

"To support this continued investment, we plan to implement price increases in the US early in the first quarter of 2026, and we recently announced upcoming price adjustments in Canada and Australia," David Ellison, Chairman & CEO of Paramount Skydance said in a letter. "These changes will fuel continued reinvestment in the user experience and deliver an even stronger slate of 
programming for our customers in the year ahead and beyond."

Paramount Skydance merger

Dig deeper:

Skydance and Paramount officially closed their $8 billion merger last August — kicking off the reign of a new entertainment giant after a contentious, over year-long endeavor to get the transaction over the finish line.

The new company — which will trade under the "PSKY" ticker on Wall Street — brings Paramount’s legacy Hollywood footprint, major TV networks like CBS and MTV, streaming services and more under the roof of a new power player: billionaire Ellison.

The Federal Communication Commission approved the merger by a 2-1 vote on July 24. The regulator who opposed it, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, expressed disdain for how it all came together — pointing to "months of cowardly capitulation to this administration."

Streaming costs continue to rise

Big picture view:

Last month, HBO announced a price hike for its streaming service, Max. 

In January, Netflix announced users of the streaming giant would have to pay $17.99 a month to watch shows and movies without commercials, up from the current price of $15.49, according to reports from The Verge, CNN and AppleInsider.com. Those with a standard account, meaning with ads included, will soon have to pay $7.99 a month, the reports said.

Premium subscribers, those watching shows and movies with 4K video quality, will soon be charged $24.99 a month, marking a price bump of $2, according to the reports.

RELATED: Disney raising subscription prices again — here’s when it takes effect

In September, Disney announced the latest price increases for its streaming services. Starting Oct. 21, the company will increase the monthly price of its Disney+ plan with ads by $2 to $11.99 per month, while the no-ads Disney Plus Premium plan will increase by $3 to $18.99 per month. Meanwhile, the company is also boosting the price of some of its bundle options.

The ad-supported bundle of Disney+ and Hulu will increase to $12.99 from $10.99 per month. The Disney+, Hulu and ESPN Select Bundle Premium, which includes ad-free Disney+ and Hulu with ad-supported ESPN+, will increase to $29.99 from $26.99.

According to FOX Business, streaming services have continuously upped their subscription prices as competition in the space heats up between Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns Max, CNN, and Discovery Channel; Disney, which owns Disney+, Hulu and ESPN; Amazon, which owns Prime; and Netflix.