Inside the Ratings: Paramount+ Data Chief Talks Maximizing ‘Ecosystem’ to Drive Viewership — From ‘Sonic’ to Sports

Streamers across the entertainment space are working overtime to up their subscriber numbers and keep those paying customers tuned in. For Paramount+ data chief Domenic DiMeglio, the debut of an original series is just as vital to drawing eyes to the streamer as the arrival of a Paramount Pictures movie fresh out of theaters or a newly licensed title, with the streamer attempting to “maximize the power of the Paramount Global ecosystem.”

“We all really collaborate to maximize the potential of any sort of release, whether it’s a big theatrical release, an important premiere on CBS or linear overall, or something coming to Paramount+,” DiMeglio, who also serves as the streamer’s EVP and CMO, told TheWrap.

After launching in March 2021, Paramount+ grew its subscriber base by 5.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 and 10 million in the fiscal year, reaching 77.5 million subscribers while also increasing its revenue by 16% in the fourth quarter and 33% for the fiscal year. Additionally, Paramount+ delivered its highest level of engagement in the fourth quarter, setting a new record as the No. 2 most-watched domestic SVOD service for hours watched across all original series. 

As DiMeglio eyes further growth, he noted the importance of creating “a moment for a particular release” by pulling “levers” across Paramount Global’s assets, including promotional inventory on linear and across Paramount+ and Pluto TV.

Harnessing franchises

Paramount Pictures closed out 2024 with the theatrical releases of “Gladiator II” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” two franchise titles that DiMeglio said were “enormous” for the company both during their theatrical runs and by the time they were made available to stream on Paramount+ in early 2025. With DiMeglio and his team aiming to keep the momentum going from the theatrical debut to streaming release, demonstrating the studio’s “playbook” for licensed titles.

Within a week of “Gladiator II” debuting in theaters in November, the first “Gladiator” film saw a 264% boost in daily average active subscriber households on Paramount+ when compared to the 21 days prior. And likewise, within a week of “Gladiator II” arriving on Paramount+, the first film saw another 435% increase in viewership compared to the prior 21-day average.

“We’re always making sure that we’ve got the full suite of assets and content from a franchise when we’re going into a theatrical release,” DiMeglio said. “We’re going to also try to drive viewership, both within the product as well as … paid campaigns, trying to get people to watch the first ‘Gladiator,’ or come in to the watch the first ‘Sonic’ films or our original series ‘Knuckles.'”

Similarly, after the theatrical release of “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” Paramount+ viewership for the first two “Sonic” movies saw a 185% increase, setting the scene for “Sonic 3” to rank as the streamer’s third most-watched movie in its first four days on Paramount+. After “Sonic 3” debuted on Paramount+, viewership for the first film grew by 118%, the second film saw a 53% bump and “Knuckles” posted an 8% increase.

“The first film came out prior to Paramount+’s launch [and] ‘Sonic 2’ was a huge hit for us in the spring of 2022,” DiMeglio said. “That was one of … the early titles where we brought out that playbook, because we had the original ‘Sonic.’ We promoted it to subscribers [and] really saw a pop, that halo effect … when it hit theaters, and then both films did really well when the streaming window came up.”

Given the success of the first “Sonic,” the Paramount+ team developed the original series “Knuckles,” following a character introduced in “Sonic 2,” which DiMeglio recalled being a “perfect way to program for the fans,” especially as the fandom waits for the next film in the franchise.

“We always knew that …. we would have sort of two bites at the apple,” DiMeglio said. “We had a huge moment for ‘Knuckles’ then, but we also knew with the third film coming out, it again, would be part of this growing, ‘Sonic’ universe within Paramount+ that would benefit from the release of the third movie.”

Finding a “healthy” theatrical window

Four years into launching Paramount+, DiMeglio said the streamer has figured out a “healthy” theatrical window that works for them, with the streaming debut being a “fast follow” after a film’s “home entertainment” window (when a title is available to stream on demand for a fee). With additional marketing efforts along each new release window, DiMeglio said the streaming pushes don’t hurt the theatrical release but, in some ways, even helps.

“We’ve set the windows in a way that it really lets theaters do what the theatrical experience does best,” DiMeglio said. “We’re well aligned in streaming that the bigger a movie debuts and its box-office run overall — the healthier it is — the stronger every sort of downstream window is going to be.”

That said, DiMeglio said it’s too soon to say whether “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” will employ a similar windowing strategy as “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning,” which saw a six-month gap between hitting theaters and streaming on Paramount+.

Sports strength

While DiMeglio notes that theatrical releases are “massive” for the streamer, he identifies sports as another area where Paramount+ has seen “incredible results.” Viewership for the NFL on Paramount+ had its best year to date, while CBS Sports scored its second-most-watched NFL season since 1998 with 19.2 million average viewers. Likewise, CBS Sports’ presentation of the AFC Championship Game was the most-streamed AFC Championship Game ever on Paramount+, with viewing up 52% compared to last year.

DiMeglio called the UEFA Champions League the streamer’s “crown jewel,” which is currently delivering record viewership on Paramount+ as the most-streamed UEFA season to date. (Paramount did not provide specific data to support the statement.)

From kids to cannibals

In addition to films and sports, Paramount+ leans on its strong TV arm, which features Paramount+ original series, including a variety of Taylor Sheridan’s series as well as niche shows like “Yellowjackets” and “The Agency,” and CBS series, which range from case-of-the-week procedurals like “Elsbeth” and “FBI” to comedies like “Ghosts.” The roster also includes reality shows like “Survivor” and “The Amazing Race,” whose next-day programming does “exceptionally well” for the streamer, according to DiMeglio.

Just like working across Paramount Pictures to ensure a smooth promotion on the film side, DiMeglio said the Paramount+ team has “partnered really closely” on titles CBS saw as “potential, real multiplatform hits.” “We’ve got a really good track record with ‘Ghosts,’ and then the subsequent season … we worked together on ‘Fire Country,'” DiMeglio recalled. “Last year, it was ‘Tracker,’ and this season, ‘Matlock’ has been another highly successful story for us.”

Boosted by “Matlock,” “Tracker” and “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” CBS primetime delivered its best quarter on Paramount+ since launch, with the fall 2024 lineup growing 9% from winter 2024 and 127% from fall 2022 primetime. CBS’ primetime slate accounts for half of Paramount+’s 10 most-watched series in 2024’s fourth quarter, with “Tracker” averaging 5.5 million streaming-only viewers, while “Matlock” averages nearly 5 million.

With Paramount+ offering broad appeal via the Taylor Sheridan universe, sports and procedurals as well as niche programming like “Yellowjackets” and “School Spirits,” DiMeglio said the streamer has focused on honing a “coast-to-coast, total household programming strategy,” noting Paramount+ viewership spans demographics and geographies.

“If you map our streaming service against the U.S. population, it indexes pretty closely to the population — big cities, small towns — we really do believe that we are programming for all ages and coast to coast,” DiMeglio said. “The way we see the numbers and the sign ups and where people are streaming from reflect that as well.”

Kids programming is another part of that strategy, with the Paramount+ library including “Paw Patrol,” “Henry Danger” and iconic kids brands Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. He noted that “‘SpongeBob’ has been immensely important” to the streamer, pointing out the “SpongeBob” 25th anniversary that became a year-long celebration for Paramount+ in 2024.

“That’s been part of our DNA in terms of being able to create both amazing kids content specifically for kids, but also multigenerational content that does really well,” DiMeglio said. “‘Sonic’ s really the epitome of that, where kids love it, but it’s also great programming where parents can watch with their kids.”

Don’t forget about Pluto

When it comes to the Paramount Global ecosystem, Pluto is “immensely valuable,” according to DiMeglio, pointing to the “cross-promotion and leveraging” across the two streaming platforms. In the lead-up to a returning series like “Yellowstone,” the entire prior season would be sampled on Pluto, and the same strategy can be employed for a new series, with DiMeglio noting Pluto aired a “midseason catch-up stunt” for “Matlock,” which he said was “very successful.”

“We really have focused the last number of years on maximizing … what we call the ‘free to pay’ ecosystem between the two and having Paramount+ work to help Pluto and Pluto work to help Paramount+,” he said.

The post Inside the Ratings: Paramount+ Data Chief Talks Maximizing ‘Ecosystem’ to Drive Viewership — From ‘Sonic’ to Sports appeared first on TheWrap.