Bob Bakish, president and chief executive officer of ViacomCBS Inc., center left, and Shari Redstone, chair of VicaomCBS Inc., applaud during the opening bell in celebration of the company's merger at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, U.S., on Thursday, December 5, 2019.

First came the merger. Now comes the streaming service.

Newly combined ViacomCBS is working on combining media assets for a new streaming service that will build on CBS All Access, according to people familiar with the matter.

While ViacomCBS executives haven't made any firm decisions, they are considering creating a service with advertisements that will combine CBS All Access with Viacom assets including Pluto TV, Nickelodeon, BET, MTV, Comedy Central and Paramount Pictures, said the people, who asked not to be named because the product discussions are private.

An ad-free version will also be available, and a premium version of the streaming service will include Showtime, the people said. ViacomCBS executives haven't decided on a name for the service, nor a price, though the base service will probably be less than $10 a month, two of the people said.

ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish has thus far declined to answer questions about the company's streaming strategy, but ViacomCBS executives will speak about the planned service during the company's fourth quarter earnings conference call on Feb. 20, said the people. ViacomCBS will also reveal statistics about total paid subscribers for its existing streaming services and give revenue figures for the first time, said the people. Chief Digital Officer Marc Debevoise, Pluto TV CEO Tom Ryan and President of U.S. Networks Distribution Ray Hopkins have spearheaded the effort, along with Bakish, two of the people said.

ViacomCBS is in the awkward position of being simultaneously early and late to the streaming wars. CBS launched CBS All Access in October 2014, more than five years before Disney+, Apple TV+ and the coming debuts of NBCUniversal's Peacock and AT&T's HBO Max. But after merging on Dec. 31, the new company has added heft to create a new streaming service that it feels can compete with the largest streaming products.

The new product could be the final significant streaming offering that hits the market as traditional media companies all prepare for a post-cable TV future. ViacomCBS hopes consumers will see the value in the combination of live sports and news with movies, strong kids programming from Nickelodeon and Noggin, and both scripted and unscripted programming, the people said.

A ViacomCBS spokesman declined to comment.