According to Business Insider, an internal Paramount presentation from mid-January reveals the company’s first-quarter priorities for Paramount+ and Pluto TV. The presentation, sent by Paramount+ head of global product Dan Reich to chief product officer Dane Glasgow, shows executives brainstorming features like a short-form video feed, a sports multiview option, and even free content on the paid Paramount+ service. This comes as Paramount works to merge the tech stacks of Paramount+ and free streamer Pluto TV onto a single platform—a project internally called “convergence.” Paramount+ currently has just over 79 million global subscribers, far behind Netflix’s 325 million, and captured only 2.5% of US TV viewership in December. CEO David Ellison is pushing to make Paramount a “tech-first” company while also reportedly battling Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.
The Desperation Playbook
Look, this is what happens when you’re a distant fourth or fifth in a brutal race. You start throwing every idea at the wall. A TikTok-style feed on Paramount+? Free content inside a paid service when you already have a free service (Pluto TV)? It feels reactive and, frankly, a bit confused. Here’s the thing: each of these ideas is a direct shot at a different giant. Short-form video is for TikTok and YouTube. Sports multiview is for ESPN and YouTube TV. Free content tiers are for Netflix and, well, your own Pluto TV. It’s like they’re trying to fight a war on four fronts at once with a much smaller army. And that “convergence” tech project? A high-ranking engineer basically said the old Paramount+ code is ancient history, going back to the “CBS All Access” days. They’re finally trying to modernize, but it sounds like they’re doing it from a deep hole.
The Pluto TV Problem
This is the weirdest part for me. Paramount already owns Pluto TV, a successful free, ad-supported streaming service. So why would you start putting free content inside Paramount+? Doesn’t that just cannibalize your own product? It sends a messy message to consumers. Is Paramount+ the premium destination, or is it just Pluto TV with a paywall and some originals? This blurring of lines suggests they don’t have a coherent brand strategy. They’re treating their services like features to be bundled and shuffled, not as distinct products with clear value propositions. It seems like internal politics or platform desperation is driving this, not what a customer actually needs or wants.
Can Ellison’s Tech Gamble Work?
David Ellison wants a “tech-first” company. That’s a great goal. But merging old, creaky tech stacks is a monumental, expensive engineering task that rarely delivers immediate customer benefits. It’s plumbing. Necessary, but not sexy. The risk is they spend all their energy and money on the “convergence” back-end while the flashy new features (the short-form feed) feel bolted-on and half-baked. And let’s be real: building a TikTok competitor from within a legacy media app? I don’t see it. That’s a completely different muscle. Meanwhile, they’re distracted by a mega-acquisition battle for Warner Bros. Discovery. It’s a lot. Too much, probably. They’re trying to engineer, acquire, and creatively brainstorm their way to relevance simultaneously. That’s a great way to do nothing well.
The Brutal Reality Check
The numbers don’t lie. 79 million subscribers sounds okay until you see Netflix at 325 million. That 2.5% US viewership share is devastating. So, yeah, they need to try something radical. But radical doesn’t mean scatter-shot. Throwing a short-form feed into a streaming app isn’t a strategy; it’s a gimmick. The core issue remains: do they have enough must-see, exclusive content to make people choose them over Netflix, Disney, or even just defaulting to YouTube? All the tech features in the world won’t fix a content gap. This leaked presentation feels like a team under immense pressure, grasping for growth levers anywhere they can find them. It’s a hail Mary, not a game plan.
