Paramount+ to absorb BET+ after parent buys out Tyler Perry’s stake in streamer

Streamer BET+ will become part of Paramount+ after its parent company, Paramount Skydance, bought actor and producer Tyler Perry’s stake in the venture.

Paramount+ is expected to absorb BET+ in June 2026, unlocking access to over 1,000 hours of BET+ content to Paramount+ subscribers. The move will also include original productions and licensed content wherever rights deals allow.

This will include Perry-produced content, including shows such as “Ruthless,” “Divorced Sistas,” “All the Queen’s Men” and “Zatima,” which are all slated to start new seasons in the months following the formal combination of the two streamers.

Paramount+ also expects to renew select BET+ series after the move, though some may not return as part of the normal renewal process. 

Perry had held what was believed to be a 25% stake in BET+, which is owned by Paramount subsidiary BET Media Group. It is reportedly worth in the tens of millions of dollars, though specifics about the Paramount-Perry deal were not announced.

After the transition, BET+ content will move under the existing BET Hub within the Paramount+ app. Because both Paramount+ and BET+ already stream select BET Network series, some of the content will not be new to subscribers of the parent service.

As BET+ winds down, its subscribers can expect a special offer to sign up for Paramount+, according to the company. Paramount+ currently costs $3 more per month than BET+, which offers a $5.99 per month essential tier and a $10.99 premium option. 

Perry’s nine-figure production deal with BET Media Group, which began in 2024 and runs through 2028, will continue, with content appearing on Paramount+ instead of BET+ after June. 

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Eliminating BET+ as a standalone streamer appears to be largely in line with Paramount Skydance’s strategy of boosting its subscriber counts across streaming. Prior to Skydance Media’s acquisition of Paramount Global in 2025, Paramount had merged operations of Showtime into Paramount+. At the time, the offering was branded as “Paramount+ Showtime,” but recently dropped the reference to Showtime in favor of a simple “premium” label.

It’s also likely that Paramount will be able to realize cost savings once BET+ is absorbed, such as efficiencies in technology, marketing and back office expenditures. Paramount had already been in the process of migrating Paramount+, FAST Pluto TV and BET+ to the same tech stack, though it now appears that ongoing project will only include standalone apps for Paramount+ and Pluto TV. 

BET+ has an estimated 3.5 million subscribers, compared to Paramount+’s 80 million count, though it’s important to note that not all subscribers will make the transition and there is likely some crossover between the two subscriber pools.

It’s unclear how much Paramount+ numbers could change after the combination, but BET+ exclusive content is likely to benefit from higher exposure as it becomes available to a larger group of subscribers.

Other DTC streaming offerings have also made similar attempts at consolidation, though to varying degrees.

After several years of operating Hulu and Disney+ largely independent of each other, Disney transitioned both platforms to the same technology platform. Hulu content is also now available from its own tile in Disney+. Disney still allows users to sign up for a Hulu-only streaming plan as well as its vMVPD offering Hulu + Live TV, but the most competitive pricing includes Hulu and Disney+.

Disney also bundles its streamers with access to the ESPN Unlimited tier of the sports broadcasters’ platform as well as HBO Max, Cinemax, Paramount+ and Starz options.

Warner Bros. Discovery, which is in the process of being acquired by Paramount, also began offering Discovery+ content within HBO Max (or Max, as it was known at the time that strategy was introduced), though it continues to sell Discovery+ as a standalone offering. 

Once the WBD-Paramount deal goes through, executives have already announced that Paramount+ and HBO Max will, in turn, be combined into a single offering. No branding for that new offering has been announced and it unclear how Discovery+ will fit into those plans.