Paramount to combine My5 with Pluto TV in UK to create new ad-supported streamer
Paramount Global is combining UK commercial public service broadcaster Channel 5’s video-on-demand platform My5 and its free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service Pluto TV into one streamer.
Maria Kyriacou
The unified ad-supported platform, launching next year, will combine My5 with Pluto TV, featuring local content from Channel 5 alongside an archive of on-demand, curated FAST channels from Pluto TV, and a new user experience that spans broadcast video-on-demand (BVoD), FAST, ad-supported VOD (AVoD) and live TV.
Work on the new product is underway, with a launch planned for the second half of 2024. Further details on the brand and product will be announced in early 2024.
Paramount Global said the newly combined streaming service will enable Channel 5 to extend its provision of high-quality public service content in a digitally delivered future – and build on the network’s acclaimed recent success.
Channel 5 has grown its share of the UK television audience over the last four years consecutively, and its BVOD service My5 has grown its viewing over the last three years consecutively – with shows such as Dalgleish, All Creatures Great and Small, Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild, The Yorkshire Vet and Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly.
Pluto TV, meanwhile, is the most widely distributed FAST service worldwide and has more than 2,000 channels globally from over 425 content partners across four continents and over 35 markets.
Pluto TV’s content offering spans multiple genres via curated channels and on demand, including global and local film and series selections, kids and family content, stand-up comedy and sports.
The service in the UK has over 20,000 hours of free content and more than 150 channels programmed with content from Paramount and other content partners, including Judge Judy Sheindlin and Dog The Bounty Hunter, the three classic series in the CSI Universe, MTV hits like Catfish and Teen Mum, 10 curated movie channels as well as numerous factual shows like Channel 5’s Police Interceptors, Come Dine With Me, true crime show Homicide Hunter and long-running Most Haunted.
Maria Kyriacou, president of broadcast and studios at Paramount International Markets, said: “As we look ahead to an IP (internet protocol)-delivered future, this is the right time for us to fully leverage the Paramount ecosystem and combine the reach and scale of our free-to-air network in the UK with the global success of our FAST service Pluto TV. We’re well underway with work on this product, and I’m incredibly excited about the content and user experience we’ll be able to offer our audiences and our advertising partners when we launch next year.”
“As an early pioneer of FAST globally, we’ve seen incredible growth and excitement for Pluto TV in markets around the world. By joining forces with our leading BVOD platform in the UK, we are offering audiences, partners and clients a supersized free streaming destination that we know they’ll love,” said Olivier Jollet, executive VP and general manager Pluto TV, Paramount International Markets.
“This is a significant evolution for our free streaming business in this important market and a testament to how we strategically approach our platforms and the future of streaming.”
