PARAMOUNT+ PREPARES FOR UK LAUNCH

ViacomCBS announced that the global media company will become Paramount Global (referred to as "Paramount"), effective February 16, bringing together its leading portfolio of premium entertainment properties under a new parent company name.

Also announced, Paramount+ will launch in the UK later this year. Paramount+ will continue deliver the most diverse content offering in streaming across every genre at scale, including beloved franchise extensions and all-new buzzworthy originals spanning must-see movies, scripted dramas, unscripted reality TV, comedy, kids and family, sports, news, specials and events to super-serve the entire household.

A fresh slate of global unscripted series, expanding industry-defining franchises, include:

• All Star Shore – a competition docu-series that will feature 14 of reality TV's most iconic stars from around the world and television's biggest series – including Jersey Shore Family Vacation, Love is Blind, RuPaul's Drag Race, Geordie Shore, Acapulco Shore, Bachelor in Paradise and more – as they come together for an epic vacation at the ultimate Shore house in Gran Canaria, Spain, to battle it out for the grand prize and global bragging rights.

• Ink Master – the hit tattoo competition makes its premiere on Paramount+ in markets around the world with all-new episodes later this year. Featuring some of the nation's top tattoo artists battling it out in permanent ink for $250,000 and the prized title of Ink Master, the competitors will test their technical skills and on-the-spot creativity in challenges unlike ever before.

• The Challenge: War of the Worlds – winners from four new Challenge series The Challenge: CBS (working title), The Challenge: Argentina, The Challenge: Australia and The Challenge: U.K. will advance to the first-ever globally connected tournament, The Challenge: War of the Worlds, and battle for the title of Challenge World Champion.

• The Real World Homecoming: New Orleans – the third installment of the hit original unscripted series will reunite original New Orleans cast members David "Tokyo" Broom, Melissa Howard, Jamie Murray, Danny Roberts, Matt Smith, Julie Stoffer and Kelley Wolf in "The Big Easy." In addition, the original season of The Real World: New Orleans will be available to stream on Paramount+ beginning in April.

And, the following top-performing reality series have been renewed for Paramount+: Queen of the Universe, RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars and The Challenge: All Stars. Internationally, global phenomenons Acapulco Shore, Geordie Shore: Return of the OGs and Rio Shore have also been renewed.

Global Scripted

• A Gentleman in Moscow (UK) – based on the best-selling novel by Amor Towles, this drama series tells the story of Count Rostov who, in 1922, finds himself stuck in Moscow and on the wrong side of history. The Communist Party agrees to let him live but he is never allowed to set foot outside the Metropole Hotel until the day he dies. Co-produced by ViacomCBS International Studios (VIS) and eOne.

• Sexy Beast (UK) – the prequel series, based on the hit cult classic film of the same name, begins with Gal Dove and Don Logan just as they descend into the seductive madness of the London criminal world during the vibrant and volatile 1990s. At its core, this is a love story between two men -- à la Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In association with VIS, produced by Chapter One, with showrunner Michael Caleo (The Sopranos).