Pluto TV
Pluto TV is a free ad-supported streaming service owned by Paramount Global. It primarily offers a selection of programming content through digital linear channels designed to emulate the experience of traditional broadcast programming.
History
Pluto TV was originally co-founded by Thomas V. Ryan, Ilya Pozin and Nick Grouf in 2013 and launched its website in 2014. Originally owned by Pluto Inc., it was developed to provide curated channels of existing online content, offering a slate of nearly 100 categorized channels featuring content aggregated from various video-sharing platforms and additional content provided through partnerships with original web content services and television networks (including Funny or Die, QVC, and RocketJump).
In 2017, Pluto launched a video-on-demand offering featuring a library of licensed television shows and movies from distributors such as Sony and Paramount Pictures. On October 1st, 2018, Pluto TV expanded to other parts of Europe with a platform on Sky's Now TV in the UK. On December 4th that year, it expanded to Germany and Austria, also through an agreement with Sky.
On January 22nd, 2019, Viacom announced their intention of buying Pluto TV from Pluto Inc., with the deal being completed on March 4th. On March 18th, Viacom announced plans to launch Pluto TV worldwide. On May 1st, 2019, Pluto TV introduced branded channels based on Viacom-cable outlets and other Viacom properties, including content from Paramount and Nickelodeon. These channels focus primarily on archival content and series that Pluto TV has acquired from other content providers.
On August 13, 2019, National Amusements announced that Viacom and CBS Corporation—which had split into two separate companies in 2005, five years after the original Viacom first acquired CBS's assets—would re-merge to become ViacomCBS. Pluto TV already had CBS News' 24/7 streaming network CBSN prior to the announcement.
On February 3rd, 2020, ViacomCBS announced that Pluto TV would launch in parts of the rest of the Americas, at the end of March, offering 17 channels available in Spanish and Portuguese at launch. The service was expected to launch in Brazil in December 2020 but was launched on November 17th instead. On October 8th, ViacomCBS announced Pluto TV's launch in Spain, Italy and France. On November 29, 2021, ViacomCBS announced that Pluto TV would launch in Sweden, Norway and Denmark by 2022 as part of a joint venture with Nordic Entertainment Group. On May 18, 2022, Pluto TV launched in the Nordics. On June 8th, Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS), in partnership with Corus Entertainment annonced that Pluto TV will launch in Canada in the Fall. On the 29th, it was announced that a Transformers-themed channel would launch on June 13, possibly as a way to promote the upcoming EarthSpark that is set to air on Paramount+ and Nickelodeon in the Fall.
