CBS All Access is Now Paramount+| Review, Packages, Channels and More
Formerly known as CBS All Access, Paramount+ is one of the most popular online streaming services in the U.S that offers a vast collection of TV shows and on-demand content at the touch of a button.
I’ve been using Paramount for around 6 months and have been a fan ever since I first subscribed to their service.
This platform has so much to offer and there’s well over 30,000 TV shows and movies including access to BET, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and even some amazing Paramount Original movies and shows.
While their service is pretty affordable, I did notice that there are a few drawbacks such as content can not be customized and local CBS network stations are not available in every market, which got me thinking “Is Paramount+ really worth it?”.
Read on as I take you through my Paramount+ review and find out whether it’s something you would like subscribing to.
Paramount+ Review
How Much Does Paramount+ Cost?
From what I could find, Paramount+ has two subscription plans available; Essential and Premium.
Both are super affordable and the only difference between the two is that the Essential plan does not have local CBS stations and there are ads in between tv shows and movies.
The Premium plan on the other hand is ad-free and comes with local CBS stations, but these live CBS stations will have commercials that play in the middle of episodes and movies.
Apart from these two plans that are listed on the Paramount+ website, there’s even a bundle deal available where I could opt to have my Paramount+ account merged with my Showtime account and the resulting subscription plan would vary between $12 a month to $15 a month depending on what base subscription plan I selected.
Here’s a quick summary of the subscription plans available on Paramount+
- Essential Plan – $5/m or $50/year ($10 savings on yearly plans)
- Premium Plan – $10/m or $100/year ($20 savings on yearly plans)
- Essential Plan + Showtime Bundle – $12/m or $120/year
- Premium Plan + Showtime Bundle – $15/m or $150/year
I also came across a student discount section that offers 25% off monthly subscription rates for students that brings the cost of the Essential plan down to $4 a month.
The one thing that I did appreciate was that Paramount+ comes with a 7-day free trial which can be used to check what they offer. The trial can be canceled any anytime within the 7 days without any charge.
Paramount+ Price and Inclusions Comparison 2022
| Paramount+ | Hulu | Netflix | HBO Max | |
| Starting price | $5 per month | $7 per month | $10 per month | $10 per month |
| Free trial length | 7 days | 30 days | No trial | No trial |
| Number of live channels | 20+ | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DVR storage hours | None | None | None | None |
What Can You Watch on Paramount+?
The reason why I opted for the Paramount+ subscription is because I love CBS shows and there’s no easier way to stay up to date with the latest episodes other than subscribing to Paramount+.
There’s a wide range of content to choose from and this includes new and old CBS shows as well as Paramount originals like Evil (my favorite) and Star Trek: Picard & Star Trek: Discovery.
I also found Paramount+ to offer a decent selection of sporting events such as live NFL on CBS, Masters Tournament, PGA Tour and Championship, UEFA Champions League, Europa League and much more.
In total, I came across over 1000+ live sporting events and while most of them were available on the Essential Plan, major broadcasts such as world tournaments are only available to members with a Premium subscription.
There’s also a dedicated news and kids section with thousands of hours of content to watch from and this available to both Essential and Premium subscribers.
The kids section includes access to all of Nickelodeon’s library including SpongeBob SquarePants, TMNT, Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years and classics like Rugrats and Fairly Odd Parents.
The on-demand section was a real hit with shows like CSI, Criminal Minds, FBI, Hawaii 5-0, Key and Peele, The Brady Bunch, The Daily Show and much much more. Content is available real-time as well as they can be watched at a later date and that makes the service all the more better to use.
Paramount+ Features
Now I know that Paramount+ might seem like your run of the mill streaming service, but there’s actually quite a bit that’s under the hood making it one of the leading subscription services in the U.S, and it’s not just because of the good content that’s available.
One of the best features of Paramount+ that I can think of, is that it comes with a Live Channel Hub that groups live channels by genre and not on the basis of network.
For example, I found channels for Crime & Justice, Kids & Family, Animation Favorites and more. This really helped make it easier for me to choose the type of show or movie I wanted to watch.
Another thing I found was that Paramount+ streams their content in 1080p HD and only Premium subscribers can watch select shows and movies in 4K with Dolby Vision and HDR10. In my opinion, it’s better to pay an extra $5 a month and get access to the best content in the best quality possible.
Apart from Live Channel Hub and UHD viewing, there’s also Parental Controls that make it safer to watch Paramount+ with kids at home. The controls let me set age and maturity restrictions for explicit and adult content so there was no unfiltered access at home.
Paramount+ Review : Using the Web Interface
The Paramount+ web interface is quite similar to CBS All Access and this made it a whole lot easier to use since I was familiar with the layout. The web page has a dark theme and there’s a Profile icon in the upper right corner that I could use to access my Account settings.
There’s also a few options available at the top of the page to select whether I wanted the page to reflect only TV shows, Live TV channels, Movies or News.
Further down, on the main screen there’s a list of genres available and tapping on any one of them will filter content that fits within that category. There’s Trending Shows, A-Z, Dramas, Comedies, Daytime, PrimeTime, Kids, Classics, Sports and News.
Clicking on any content will pull up the description of the program, list of episodes, related shows, show/movie bio as well as what rating the show/movie has received.
While watching content on the web, the playback interface was quite standard and didn’t have advanced features. Instead, there was only a play/pause button, 10-second fast forward and rewind button and a subtitles button.
In short, the interface is super easy to use and Paramount has given viewers easier ways to find and watch TV shows and movies on their platform. The Live Channel Hub was a blessing in disguise and it really helped filter out only live channels from other stuff.
There could have been additional features added to the playback interface, but since it’s as basic as they come, the playback interface is easy to use as well.
Paramount+ Review : Using the Mobile App
Coming to the mobile app, Paramount+ really did a good job with their app and I faced absolutely no issue while using the Android app on my ASUS ROG 5.
The layout and theme are pretty much the same as the web interface and I did not face any app crash or hang ups while testing the app.
All the main categories and access to the user profile are located at the footer of the app and the Paramount+ app also permits offline downloads.
While selecting something to watch, the orientation of the app automatically changed and I could watch the movie or episode full screen without having to press any buttons.
The layout of the playback interface is the same as the web interface and there’s no additional features or functions available apart from the usual play, pause, fast forward, rewind and subtitles.
There’s even a cast button on the mobile app which can be used to cast any movie or show onto a connected smart TV.
The mobile app is easy to use and is quite responsive while scrolling through the lineup of shows and movies. Though titles can be downloaded for offline viewing, they will automatically get deleted from the device after 30-days.
What Devices Support Paramount+?
Paramount+ is available on most mobile devices and smart TVs. Here’s the complete list of devices Paramount+ can be installed on.
- Apple macOS
- Apple TV
- Apple iPhone, Apple iPad, and Apple iPod Touch
- Android TV (Google TV)
- Android phone and tablet
- Google Chromecast
- Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox web browsers
- Microsoft Windows 10 and Windows 11
- Facebook Portal TV
- Sony PlayStation 4
- Samsung TV
- Vizio TV
- LG TV
- Fire TV
- Cox Contour box
- Roku
- Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
- Xfinity Flex and X1
Paramount+ Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Vast library of content covering different genres | Doesn’t offer content apart from Paramount productions |
| Provides live sports telecasts | CBS Live channels are available only to premium members |
| App supports offline downloads | |
| Premium members can watch in 4K with HDR10 | |
| Can watch on 3 devices simultaneously | |
| Good parental controls and features |
Is Paramount+ Worth It?
Deciding whether you want to get a Paramount+ subscription will depend on the kind of shows you like and if you’re a fan of the CBS network.
At present, Paramount+ is cheaper than Netflix and Hulu but the drawback is that it only hosts Paramount brands and not any others.
For me, since it’s affordable and there are loads of shows I love available on their platform, the subscription makes sense.
I would suggest giving the 7-day trial a go before picking up a premium plan and the best part about the trial is that it can be canceled anytime in the 7 day period and there will be no charge or debit to your account.
