Voot Select might be the residence for most Paramount+ originals, and the unique residence to all upcoming Showtime originals, the Viacom18-owned streaming service has introduced. From Paramount+ that features the Halo TV collection, primarily based on the eponymous online game franchise, the Frasier reboot (with Kelsey Grammer returning), and the second season of darkish comedy-drama Why Women Kill. From Showtime, we’ll see the restricted collection revival of Michael C. Hall-led Dexter, the Ray Donovan film with Liev Schreiber, and the anthology collection The First Lady about wives of US Presidents. Voot Select is at present priced at Rs. 499 a yr, which is able to finally go as much as Rs. 99 per 30 days or Rs. 999 a yr.
The Paramount+ Voot Select deal does not contain early entry to theatrical releases. In February, ViacomCBS — it owns Paramount+ and has a 49 p.c stake in Viacom18 — introduced that every one Paramount Pictures films in 2021 reminiscent of Mission: Impossible 7 and A Quiet Place Part II could be obtainable on Paramount+ 45 days after their theatrical debut. This was introduced after WarnerMedia’s game-changing announcement from final yr that every one Warner Bros. films in 2021 would premiere in cinemas and on its HBO Max streaming service on the identical day. Unfortunately, Voot Select will not be getting these movies in India.
Instead, Paramount Pictures — the films are distributed by Viacom18 — has current tie-ups with Amazon Prime Video and Netflix in India. Roughly 4 to 6 months after a Paramount movie is launched in theatres, it first arrives on Prime Video. And then six months later, it leaves Prime Video and heads to Netflix.
Could the new deal result in an eventual Paramount+ launch in India? Those talks have not even begun, in line with Voot Select chief Ferzad Palia who instructed Variety: “As Paramount+ rolls out globally, we’ll [need] to work a strategy there to see what decisions we make for the India market. Maybe in the next three to six months, we’ll have more clarity on the Paramount+ entry into India, if it’s a separate service or is it through Voot Select — those are discussions that are yet to happen.”
As for the Showtime Voot Select deal, it has been in place since final yr, with reveals reminiscent of the Bryan Cranston-led Your Honor, the comedy Moonbase 8, and the docuseries The Reagans all airing solely on Voot Select. But resulting from current offers — Hotstar signed up with Showtime in 2017, again when Viacom and CBS had but to re-merge — all current Showtime content material (reminiscent of Twin Peaks, Ray Donovan, Billions, Deadwood, and The Loudest Voice) will keep on Disney+ Hotstar for now. Voot Select will solely have the probability to select them up when these offers expire.
Voot Select additionally revealed that it has crossed one million paid subscribers in lower than a yr since launch, claiming that makes it the quickest rising subscription-based Indian streaming service. That progress hasn’t come on the again of the worldwide slate although, however due to the actuality collection Bigg Boss (obtainable on Voot Select earlier than TV) and originals reminiscent of Arshad Warsi-led crime thriller Asur, psychological thriller The Gone Game with Arjun Mathur and Shweta Tripathi, and the whodunit The Raikar Case.
