In January, brands and media buyers will be able to target audiences across 10 Play, Paramount+ and Pluto in a single transaction with a blended CPM. Linear TV inventory will be added in the second half of 2025. That was the major announcement at Paramount’s upfront event today, with the return of Big Brother another highlight.
Paramount Connect has arrived and promises to revolutionise the way advertising is traded across the Paramount and Network 10 advertising ecosystem.
The first phase of Paramount Connect brings together broadcast video on demand (BVOD) platform 10 Play, streaming platform Paramount+ and more than 60 free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels on Pluto TV, into a unified digital ecosystem, which is the first of its kind in the Australian market.
Advertisers will be able to reach audiences across the Paramount ecosystem through a single customer view, providing greater efficiency in trading and more confidence in audience delivery.
Linear TV inventory will also be added in a second-phase rollout due in the second half of next year.
Paramount Connect was first touted at Paramount’s upfronts last year, but Paramount Australia chief sales officer Rod Prosser told B&T that it has taken about a year to “find a connective tissue through the tech for all of our platforms”.
“With the launch of the Paramount ad tier, we want to ensure that advertisers, in a very frictionless way, could transact across all of our Connected environments, which then took us to the next point of how we bring our linear feeds into that as well,” Prosser said.
“The main benefit is that advertisers can now access an audience that’s larger than just looking at one channel, and take out any sort of shortfall that might occur on one channel over the other. So effectively campaigns should always deliver (audience).
“The second benefit is that it’s multiscreen and should take a lot of the heavy load out of buying.”
Paramount Connect offers advertisers greater reach than in the heyday of Network 10’s linear TV channel by tapping into 10 Play, which will soon rebrand to ’10’, the ad tier of Paramount+ and Pluto FAST channels. About 16.3 million people watch the Paramount Australia ecosystem each month.
The cost of running campaigns on across the various Paramount Australia platforms will vary depending on the platform, the time slot and premium nature of the content. For example, a prime-time spot for Masterchef will not cost the same as a Pluto ad. To overcome this disparity, a blended CPM will be calculated and agreed with advertisers and buyers upfront.
Lee Sears, Paramount’s international ad sales president, also attended todays upfront event. He added: “Paramount Connect will break through the silos of linear and digital, bringing together a complete and transparent picture of audience behaviour, offering advertisers unique opportunities across Paramount that delivers results for brands.
“Converged trading with Paramount Connect responds to the evolution of viewing. We know the choice between linear and BVOD is not a zero-sum game but is far more nuanced, affected by genre and format, shaped by sporting moments, and influenced by credible news and major events.”
Big Brother & Ghosts & Aussie Shore
Network 10 is reviving one of its original reality TV formats with Big Brother, which will run towards the end of the ratings period in Q4. The lineup of housemates will include a cross-section of “relatable, everyday Australians” that audiences will be able to interact with in real-time.
“Why we decided to do it now, was we wanted to go back to its roots of being live reality television in its first format. We need that event TV, so we’re going to have live evictions, live nominations, a live show on TV, with a 24-hour live stream on 10 Play,” Paramount Australia SVP of content and programming Daniel Monaghan said.
“In terms of casting, we are not casting influencers or well-known people. We’re going to reflect the audience that watches the show by representing all cross sections of society. We want that authenticity to shine through and we are going back to the genesis of what made that series so special.”
Other new shows that have been slated include a local version of the BBC comedy hit called Ghosts Australia, and a bucket list comedy travel show, The List, that follows Jack and Matt (AKA Falcon) as they holiday around the globe.
There is also a new reality series, Airport 24/7, which has exclusive access to Melbourne Airport’s air traffic control tower, and drops viewers into the daily mayhem of the Aussie airline industry.
The generations will go to battle in a reboot of the comedy quiz show Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation – now known as Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Gen.
Tried and tested reality TV formats continue with new seasons of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here, which will now run in summer, Australian Survivor, which is receiving a new spin off Survivor: Australia vs The World. The Amazing Race will return, as too will the cooking classic MasterChef, which will see favourite past contestants return in MasterChef: Back To Win.
Paramount+ has commissioned a new Aussie murder mystery drama series called, Playing Gracie Darling. This murder mystery series is set to uncover the truth 27 years on from when Joni’s best friend Gracie Darling first disappeared in a small town during a séance, and a similar mysterious disappearance occurs.
Gifting a good dose of festive cheer is Staycation, a feature-length, live action Christmas movie from Ludo, the producers of the smash hit series, Bluey. The comedy sees a dysfunctional middle-class family attempt to survive their Christmas break at home, only to find themselves accidentally mixed up with some very dangerous characters indeed.
Another likely reality TV is Aussie Shore, an Australian mash-up of the US hit Jersey Shore and its British cousin Geordie Shore, which will run this October. Hosted by House Boss Charlotte Crosby, 11 fresh-faced, unapologetically wild singletons who embody the Shore spirit will come together as one big dysfunctional family and call Cairns in North Queensland, their home for the most unforgettable and unfiltered summer of their lives.
Paramount’s line up of comedy continues (led by Cheap Seats and Have You Been Paying Attention?) with a new series to be fronted by Sam Pang.
On the sporting pitch, Paramount has live coverage of Australian football, covering internationals featuring the Matildas and Socceroos, including the next FIFA Women’s World Cup, as well as the A-League. It’s also the home of NBL and the Australian GP.
More shoppable ad formats
Paramount has also announced a “major step forward” in its CTV advertising opportunities. Partnering with KERV, it has introduced new contextual advertising offerings ‘Pause to Shop’ and ‘Own the Moment’.
After the successful global, proof-of-concept pilot for Shoppable TV earlier this year, KERV and Paramount are scaling this CTV advertising opportunity across key tentpole programs including Australian Survivor and MasterChef Australia.
Now dubbed ‘Pause to Shop’ this advertising solution turns brand exposure during Paramount’s premium shows, into product discovery opportunities. It allows advertisers to convert relevant content moments with specific on-screen brand exposure, or even similar products or services, into immediate consumer engagement.
B&T understands the shoppable formats proved popular with brands and delivered huge lifts in sales versus ordinary spots. They rolled out on Australian Survivor and MasterChef.
Another format, Own the Moment, gives advertisers the ability to claim and enhance key contextual moments within Paramount’s popular programs, allowing brands to align their messaging with scenes that evoke the desired emotional connection.
For example, if a TV program scene had an actor using an Apple laptop, Own the Moment would allow the brand’s ad to appear in the first slot in the subsequent ad break.
Diane Ho, digital advertising director, Paramount Australia, said: “Pause to Shop represents a significant leap forward in how we drive value for our advertising partners.
“By integrating seamless product discovery into our premium content, we’re transforming the way brands connect with their audiences, turning engagement into sales-actions.”
Paramount has also added three new premium data partners to support diverse advertiser needs across various sectors. Circana will provide retail insights; the Australian Bureau of Statistics will offer demographic targeting capabilities and a global payment provider will support transaction data.
Paramount’s first-party data points have also been harnessed to curate 80 premium, off-the-shelf audiences called Paramount Personas that are enriched with insights from all six premium data partners that also include smrtr, Coles 360 and Samba TV, giving advertisers ease and precision to target priority audiences.
