Paramount+ started testing something they are calling a free tier, and the fine print deflates it fast. It is Android phones and tablets only right now, you can open the app and browse the catalog, and you get up to two episodes from selected shows. That is a trailer with extra steps. A tier implies you can live in it. This is a sampler tray.
What I find more telling is where they put it. Not on the TV apps, not on iOS, but on Android mobile, which is where you run an acquisition experiment when you want cheap installs and a quick read on how many browsers convert. If this were really about giving people a free way to watch, the living room would be the obvious place to start, because that is where anybody actually finishes a series. Two episodes on a phone is designed to make you hit a wall while you are still interested.
The odd part is that Paramount already owns a free ad supported service, so the plumbing for giving stuff away exists. Bolting a two episode teaser onto the paid app instead reads like they want the trial happening inside the paid app so the upgrade button is one tap away. No word on iOS or TV platforms, and the report says this was first flagged back in July as something in the works.
Genuine question for anyone who has hit the test: does the free session actually let you finish a second episode, or does it cut partway through the first one and ask for a card?
What I find more telling is where they put it. Not on the TV apps, not on iOS, but on Android mobile, which is where you run an acquisition experiment when you want cheap installs and a quick read on how many browsers convert. If this were really about giving people a free way to watch, the living room would be the obvious place to start, because that is where anybody actually finishes a series. Two episodes on a phone is designed to make you hit a wall while you are still interested.
The odd part is that Paramount already owns a free ad supported service, so the plumbing for giving stuff away exists. Bolting a two episode teaser onto the paid app instead reads like they want the trial happening inside the paid app so the upgrade button is one tap away. No word on iOS or TV platforms, and the report says this was first flagged back in July as something in the works.
Genuine question for anyone who has hit the test: does the free session actually let you finish a second episode, or does it cut partway through the first one and ask for a card?
