By Dawn Chmielewski<\/p>\n
LOS ANGELES, California, April 21 (Reuters) – In the battle for viewers, Paramount Skydance is targeting the smallest of screens – mobile phones.<\/p>\n
A version of the Paramount+ app, \u200cnow available to Apple iPhone users, highlights short videos that users can quickly scroll \u200cthrough, including sports highlights, CBS News segments, UFC clips and trailers for movies and shows, according to two people \u200bwith knowledge of the initiative.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cUFC Fight Night\u201d matches and UFC Numbered Events, or interactive elements, the \u200csources said.<\/p>\n
A Paramount spokesperson declined \u2060to comment.<\/p>\n
Paramount still has significant ground to cover. In the first quarter of this year, it accounted for 2% of global streaming on apps, the \u2060last of the pack behind market leader Netflix<\/a> and rivals including HBO Max<\/a> and Peacock, according to Sensor Tower data. Combining HBO Max and Paramount+, following the planned acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, would \u200bmake it \u200bthe fourth-largest streaming app.<\/p>\n Google’s YouTube dwarfs Paramount+ in \u200buser numbers, with 59 times as many \u200cusers, according to mobile app measurement firm Apptopia.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Rival streaming services have also borrowed features from social media to expand their offerings.<\/p>\n