CTV Advertising Costs
Paramount+ Advertising: How to Advertise on Paramount Plus
Paramount's self-serve tool starts at $500 and can even make the ad. Here is what it covers, what it costs, and when a managed buy is the better next step.
By Timothy Lalonde · Updated September 2026 · CTV Advertising Costs
Quick answer
Paramount sells Paramount+ ads self-serve through Paramount Ads Manager, which starts at $500 per campaign and also covers CBS, Pluto TV and Paramount's cable networks. Pricing is CPM-based, and Paramount says CPMs vary with your targeting. The tool includes a free, AI-powered option that builds an ad from your website. Paramount+ is also part of Screenbridge Reach's standard managed buy.
Key takeaways
- Paramount Ads Manager lets you launch campaigns from $500, with budgets up to $260,000 per campaign.
- One account covers Paramount+, Pluto TV, CBS and Paramount's cable networks.
- Pricing is CPM-based, and the tool generates the CPM from the targeting you choose.
- Paramount's free Creative Express tool builds an ad from your website in minutes; managed creative, Creative Plus, opens up at minimum monthly spend thresholds.
- Paramount+ is part of Screenbridge Reach's standard buy, with no minimum spend and creative built from your UGC included on packages from $10,000 a month.
On this page
How Advertising on Paramount+ Works
Paramount sells Paramount+ ad inventory itself, and its self-serve tool is Paramount Ads Manager. One account buys across Paramount+, Pluto TV, CBS and Paramount's cable networks, so a Paramount+ campaign can extend to the rest of Paramount's properties without a second setup.
Campaigns start at $500 and run up to $260,000 per campaign. Pricing is by CPM, cost per thousand impressions, and Paramount says the CPM "is generated based on your selected targeting." Paramount also says 88% of its streaming content is watched on a TV screen, which is the point: this is living room inventory, not mobile video.
Targeting Options
Paramount Ads Manager lets you narrow a campaign by:
- Location: national, state, DMA or zip code.
- Demographics: age, gender and household income.
- Interests and behaviors: lifestyle, habits and behaviors.
- Content placement: genres such as sports, entertainment, news and movies, plus a peak placement option.
What Advertising on Paramount+ Costs
The entry point is $500 per campaign. Past that, the number that matters is the CPM, and Paramount prices it from your targeting: the narrower the audience, the more each thousand impressions tends to cost.
For planning, premium US streaming generally runs $25 to $60 CPM in our media-planning benchmarks. See our full CTV advertising cost breakdown for what a monthly budget buys across services, and use the CPM Paramount's tool gives you for your own targeting as the real number.
The Creative Question
Paramount Ads Manager doesn't require a finished ad. Its Creative Express tool, which Paramount describes as AI-powered and free, builds an ad from your website URL in minutes, and you can also start a campaign and add creative later. For bigger spenders, Creative Plus is a managed creative service that becomes available once you reach Paramount's minimum monthly spend thresholds.
For a first test on Paramount's properties, that removes the production barrier. A managed buy is for the next step: choosing which of your proven videos to build from, testing several versions against each other, and running them across more than Paramount's properties.
When Paramount's Self-Serve Is the Right Call
Use Paramount Ads Manager directly if:
- Paramount's audience is the goal: Paramount+, Pluto TV and CBS cover a lot of ground from one account.
- You're testing on a small budget. A $500 campaign is a legitimate way to learn whether TV works for your brand.
- An ad built from your website is good enough to start with, or you already have a TV-ready spot.
- Your team has time to set the targeting and watch the results.
No commitment required. No production budget needed. Just a conversation.
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Paramount+ in a Multi-Platform Plan
Paramount+ and Pluto TV are both part of Screenbridge Reach's standard buy, alongside Hulu, Tubi, The Roku Channel and Samsung TV+, so one campaign reaches Paramount's audience and the rest of premium streaming together. Screenbridge Reach has no minimum spend: budgets start from $50 a day, and on packages from $10,000 a month we build your ad from the UGC and social ads you already have.
Considering Paramount's free service instead? See Pluto TV advertising. Comparing with Disney's tools? See what Hulu advertising costs, or how a managed CTV advertising agency handles several platforms at once.
The results below come from CTV campaigns running creative Screenbridge built from content each brand already had, such as Carve's behind-the-scenes iPhone footage. They are client outcomes, not category averages.
Paramount Ads Manager vs. Screenbridge Reach
| Paramount Ads Manager (self-serve) | Screenbridge Reach (managed) | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry cost | $500 per campaign, up to $260,000 per campaign | No minimum; from $50 a day. Creative included from $10,000 a month in media |
| Creative | Free AI-powered tool builds an ad from your website; managed creative at minimum monthly spend thresholds | Built from your existing UGC and social ads; included on packages from $10,000 a month |
| Platforms reached | Paramount+, Pluto TV, CBS and Paramount's cable networks | Paramount+ and Pluto TV plus Hulu, Tubi, The Roku Channel, Samsung TV+ and more |
| Pricing | CPM, generated from your targeting | Suggested packages from $10,000 a month, or a custom package around your budget |
| Who runs the campaign | You: targeting and changes are on your team | Screenbridge Reach manages the buy |
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Frequently asked questions
Written by
Co-Founder, CMO, and Head of Media Strategy
Timothy Lalonde is Co-Founder, CMO, and Head of Media Strategy at Screenbridge Reach, a CTV ad management service that pairs media buying with premium creative production for DTC brands. Drawing on a decade of creative production work for DTC and CPG brands, he develops media strategy for every client campaign and prefers plain numbers over vendor talk when explaining what actually moves performance.
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