Paramount’s $1.5 Billion Write-Down Is the Bill for Peak TV Coming Due | Analysis

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The gutting of Showtime’s slate as it folds into Paramount+ is a Wall Street-pleasing purge — and a sign of the times

Criminal Minds, Picard, Paw Patrol, 1923 and Bollions

Higher prices, fewer shows and more franchise spin-offs: The bill for peak TV is coming due, and media companies are hoping they can pass on the cost to consumers and shareholders. Paramount Global’s announcement that it could write down as much as $1.5 billion in content this year as it merges Paramount+ and Showtime is just the latest sign of the newly cost-conscious stage of the streaming revolution, experts and analysts told TheWrap.

Paramount is just one of many media companies looking to rationalize their portfolios: Consider Disney’s Hulu dilemma or Warner Bros. Discovery’s pending plan to combine HBO Max and Discovery+.

Scott Mendelson

Before joining The Wrap, Scott Mendelson got his industry start in 2008 with a self-piloted film blog titled “Mendelson’s Memos.” In 2013, he was recruited to write for Forbes.com where he wrote almost exclusively for nearly a decade. In that time he published copious in-depth analytical and editorialized entertainment industry articles specializing in (but not…

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