Viacom swoops for Pluto TV in $340MN deal
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Joseph O'Halloran
| 23 January 2019

Boosting considerably its free video bouquet, addressing a key demographic and offering a way into the potentially huge direct-to-consumer market, content giant Viacom has bought OTT provider Pluto TV.

Upon closing of the transaction, which is valued at $340 million and which is expected to close in the first calendar quarter of 2019, Pluto TV will operate as an independent subsidiary of Viacom led by co-founder and current CEO Tom Ryan.

Pluto TV features over 100 linear channels, supplemented by a video-on-demand library of more than 5,000 hours across an array of genres across movies, news, sports, general entertainment and more. This content is sourced from over 130 partnerships with media networks, major film and television studios, including Paramount Pictures, and a range of digital content producers. As part of a key expansion to its reach into non-US territories, the free streaming television service launched in Europe in October 2018, debuting initially on Sky’s NOW TV in the UK.

The OTT service is available across devices, including mobile, smart TVs, desktops, streaming players and game consoles and is the second most-used free app on the Roku platform. The service is also integrated with a growing number of smart TVs, game console manufacturers and other devices, including Samsung and Vizio. Of the more than 12 million monthly active Pluto TV users, 7.5 million gain access through connected TVs. Pluto TV added over three million connected TV users in the fourth calendar quarter of 2018 alone.

Viacom sees a number of key advantages to the acquisition. First among these is giving the content provider a scaled direct-to-consumer (D2C) offering, giving direct access to millions of consumers. In addition to providing a new distribution outlet for Viacom Digital Studios content, beyond the existing AwesomenessTV channel which runs on Pluto TV, the acquisition is also sees as serving as a marketing engine to acquire and retain consumers for Viacom’s targeted subscription products, like Noggin, Comedy Central Now. This could give Viacom the potential of adding high-quality addressable advertising impressions to further strengthen its ability to serve advertisers and their agencies.

The acquisition was described by Viacom president and CEO Bob Bakish as a big move in the evolution of the company. “The video marketplace continues to evolve, with offerings segmenting by price point,” he remarked. “Pluto TV is the leading platform to serve the marketplace at the free price point, and its acquisition allows Viacom to directly participate in this important segment, benefiting Viacom, Pluto TV and our collective partners. And, while Pluto TV is very US-centric today, the opportunity is definitely global.”