Taylor Sheridan fans are officially in their stress era. Just as Landman continues to dominate conversation and Paramount+ keeps leaning hard into the Sheridan-verse, the studio behind it all has confirmed two pieces of news that — taken together — sting a little more than expected: Paramount+ is raising prices in January 2026, and Sheridan is still on track to leave the studio entirely once his deal expires.
Let’s start with the money part. Under David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance, the company is planning to spend more on content — but it’s also asking subscribers to pay up for it. In its Q3 2025 earnings report, Paramount confirmed U.S. price increases will kick in on January 15, 2026. The ad-supported Paramount+ Essential plan will rise by $1 to $8.99/month, while Paramount+ Premium (ad-free) jumps to $13.99/month. Annual plans are also climbing sharply, with Essential moving to $89.99/year and Premium to $139.99/year.
Ellison framed the hikes as necessary fuel for bigger ambitions. “These changes will fuel continued reinvestment in the user experience and deliver an even stronger slate of programming,” he said in his letter to shareholders. And to be fair, Paramount+ isn’t exactly sitting on its hands. The streamer just locked in a seven-year, $7.7 billion UFC deal, a five-year, $1.5 billion pact with Matt Stone and Trey Parker, and is ramping its film slate up to 15 movies a year. South Park alone was the platform’s top subscriber-acquisition driver in Q3.
Is Taylor Sheridan Leaving Paramount?
Reports suggest the split comes down to creative control and strained relationships with new Paramount leadership, with NBCUniversal offering Sheridan more freedom — and likely a bigger paycheck. Translation: Paramount gets a few more years of Sheridan hits, but the long-term future of the Sheridan-verse is already pointed elsewhere.
