 | |
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Company type | Division |
| Industry |
|
| Founded | 2005; 20 years ago (2005) |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Cindy Holland (Chair) |
| Brands |
|
| Services | Streaming |
| Parent |
|
| Website | paramount.com/streaming |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
Paramount Streaming (formerlyCBS Digital Media,CBS Interactive, andViacomCBS Streaming) is a division ofParamount Skydance that oversees the company'svideo streaming technology anddirect-to-consumer services; includingPluto TV andParamount+. It was founded in 2005, andTom Ryan is the company's president and CEO.[2]
The company was founded in 2005 as CBS Digital Media. In 2007, CBS Digital Media rebranded as CBS Interactive. On May 30, 2007, CBS Interactive acquiredLast.fm for £140 million (US$280 million).[3] On June 30, 2008,CNET Networks was acquired by CBS and the assets were merged into CBS Interactive, includingMetacritic,GameSpot,TV.com, andMovietome.[4]
On March 15, 2012, it was announced that CBS Interactive acquiredvideo game-based websiteGiant Bomb andcomic book-based websiteComic Vine fromWhiskey Media, who sold off their other remaining websites toBermanBraun. This occasion marked the return ofvideo game journalistJeff Gerstmann to the CBS Interactive division of video game websites, which includesGameSpot andGameFAQs, and has Gerstmann once again working directly with some of his former peers at GameSpot within the same building at the CBS Interactive headquarters.[5][6]
On April 17, 2012, it was announced thatMajor League Gaming and CBS Interactive would be entering a partnership alongsideTwitch to be the only exclusive online broadcaster of their Pro Circuit competitions, as well as for advertising representation.[7][8]
On November 4, 2019,Variety reported thatJim Lanzone would be leaving the company after nine years to become an executive in residence atBenchmark Capital and would be succeeded by Marc DeBevoise.[9]
CBS Interactive's parentCBS Corporation merged with sister companyViacom on December 4, 2019, formingViacomCBS. On September 14, 2020, it was announced thatRed Ventures would acquire the "CNET Media Group" from ViacomCBS for $500 million, which was finalized on October 30, 2020.[10][11][12]
After the divestment of the "CNET Media Group", CBS Interactive was dissolved after an organizational restructuring and renamedViacomCBS Streaming in order to accelerateViacomCBS direct-to-consumer streaming strategies.[1] On March 4, 2021, ViacomCBS Streaming renamed CBS All Access toParamount+, with additional streaming content and rebranding taking place at that time.[13]
In late 2021,Comcast and ViacomCBS announced a partnership to launch a new streaming service in more than 20 European territories.SkyShowtime would replace already existing Paramount+ in the Nordics, Hungary, and Poland while launching a fully new service in Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Kosovo, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. ViacomCBS Streaming was renamed asParamount Streaming, in-line with the rebranding of parent company ViacomCBS to Paramount Global in February 2022.[14]
Some of the digital media properties under Paramount Streaming are:
When the company was known as CBS Interactive, it owned several websites, most of which were sold toRed Ventures in 2020. Its former websites are:BNET,Chowhound,CNET,Comic Vine,Download.com,GameFAQs,GameRankings,GameSpot,Giant Bomb,Metacritic,MetroLyrics,onGamers,Radio.com,TechRepublic,TV.com,TVGuide.com,UrbanBaby andZDNet.[10]