By Dawn Chmielewski
LOS ANGELES, California, April 21 (Reuters) - In the battle for viewers, Paramount Skydance is targeting the smallest of screens - mobile phones.
A version of the Paramount+ app, now available to Apple iPhone users, highlights short videos that users can quickly scroll through, including sports highlights, CBS News segments, UFC clips and trailers for movies and shows, according to two people with knowledge of the initiative.
Paramount hopes users will develop the habit of opening
the app several times a day - as they already do with TikTok or Instagram. That increased engagement could justify new features such as real-time statistics during “UFC Fight Night” matches and UFC Numbered Events, or interactive elements, the sources said.
A Paramount spokesperson declined to comment.
Paramount still has significant ground to cover. In the first quarter of this year, it accounted for 2% of global streaming on apps, the last of the pack behind market leader Netflix and rivals including HBO Max and Peacock, according to Sensor Tower data. Combining HBO Max and Paramount+, following the planned acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, would make it the fourth-largest streaming app.
Google's YouTube dwarfs Paramount+ in user numbers, with 59 times as many users, according to mobile app measurement firm Apptopia.
Industry executives say Paramount may seek to attract new users by working with digital influencers or introducing micro dramas - minute-long clips that together form a feature-length story.
Rival streaming services have also borrowed features from social media to expand their offerings.
Netflix is investing in video podcasts, including new shows from "Saturday Night Live" alum Pete Davidson, NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin and former NBC News anchor Brian Williams. Amazon Prime Video has struck a deal with YouTube personality MrBeast - the pseudonym of Jimmy Donaldson - for a reality competition series “Beast Games.”
“Everybody chases everybody,” said one Hollywood talent agent.
Another agent said Paramount has highlighted the studio's relationship with TikTok, suggesting the potential for future collaboration. Both Paramount and TikTok U.S. share a common backer in Oracle billionaire co-founder Larry Ellison.
TikTok and Paramount say there is no agreement in place.
The work on the Paramount+ app is part of a broader overhaul of its streaming services, Paramount+ and Pluto TV, which the company outlined last week in presentations to advertisers.
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles. Editing by Mark Potter)
