Teatrix and Paramount+ Join Streaming War
Home > Tech > Article

Teatrix and Paramount+ Join Streaming War

Photo by:   Felix Mooneeram, Unsplash
Share it!
Sofía Hanna By Sofía Hanna | Journalist and Industry Analyst - Thu, 01/21/2021 - 17:35

The streaming competition keeps escalating, especially now that the habit of consuming streaming content has increased since the quarantine started. Added to the already existing competitors, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney Plus, to mention some of them, new players are entering the game: Paramount+ and Teatrix. 

Paramount+ will be the new ViacomCBS streaming service joining the company’s regular channels CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures. On Mar. 4, the platform will be officially released and it will be available in the US, Latin America and Canada. It will be available in other countries starting on Mar. 25, as reported by Forbes.

Something unique about this streaming service is that it will be open to giving rights to certain films and network series to third parties. The main idea from ViacomCBS is to deliver “live sports, breaking news and a mountain of entertainment,” according to Penske Business Media.

Teatrix is another recent arrival, although it is dedicated to streaming plays. Given the cultural sector has had to pause its usual schedule, the theater industry has had to come up with other ways to keep performing arts alive. This platform was officially released in Mexico on Nov. 1, 2020. Only two months of being in the market, it has already reached 2,000 subscribers with over 80 plays available. Teatrix already existed in Argentina since 2015 and its arrival in Mexico represented an investment of MX$20 million (US$100,000), as mentioned by Forbes.

“It is a totally new form of entertainment. Above all, the most important thing for us is that Teatrix pays royalties to actors, composers, directors and producers. There is a way to continue maintaining the value chain of the performing arts,” Oscar Carnicero, Owner of the theater La Teatrería, told Forbes.

As previously mentioned in an MBN article, the pandemic blew a tough hit to the theater industry. Businesses worldwide are fighting to be considered a priority but culture has been relegated. “Many producers are leaving the theaters because they can no longer pay the bills. The economic hit will be even worse from now on,” Theater Producer Alejandro Gou told La Jornada.

Having a streaming platform that promotes artists and at the same time gives them royalties for their work could be the start of a solution to the problem previously stated. However, for Gou, it is not enough. “These (streaming platforms) are just a band-aid for a huge wound,” he said. As stated by MBN, theater companies are still asking the government for support, which could be similar to what the restaurant sector receives or through a 100 percent subsidy on the Public Show Tax, according to Gou.

For audiences at home, the streaming war rages on, with competition coming from movie and series streamers, as well as theater.

Photo by:   Felix Mooneeram, Unsplash

You May Like

Most popular

Newsletter