Pluto TV adds three CBS Interactive channels to its free, ad-supported lineup
CBS Interactive and Pluto TV
Free TV streaming service Pluto TV has added three new channels from CBS Interactive, ahead of the upcoming ViacomCBS merger, expected next month.
A piece from Variety explains that the Viacom-owned service already has a couple of CBS Interactive channels: CBSN national news, and the CNET channel. Yesterday, they added CBSN New York and CBSN Los Angeles, two flavors of the new local news streaming service, and ET Live, which Variety calls “the digital offshoot of ‘Entertainment Tonight’”.
On the surface, Pluto TV adding a couple new channels is hardly big news. But in context, it’s significant and could potentially be very good news to Star Trek fans in the future. Let’s look at the details.
Pluto TV is a Viacom property and currently offers over 200 channels of television on a free, ad-supported basis online. Basically, Pluto TV is watching broadcast television, over the internet. It’s a cord-cutters’ dream: while selected programs are on-demand, the vast majority of Pluto TV content is split into specialized channels. There’s a whole channel of Addams Family reruns, for instance, or The Hills. There are news channels, sports channels, international channels...It’s almost identical to a cable service, without the cable.
Enter CBS. When CBS and Viacom merge in December to become ViacomCBS, a single company will own both Pluto TV and CBS All Access. In an interview with CNBC yesterday, Viacom CEO and upcoming ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish explained how their position in streaming will be unique once the merger is finalized. “We’re bringing a different approach to the marketplace. One that combines free and paid,” he said. “We’re the leader today in free. We already have, particularly on a ViacomCBS basis, a nice bouquet of paid products. We’ll use those on an integrated basis, and you’ll see us prosper in that space as well.” Bakish implies that he sees free and paid streaming as parts of a whole, rather than distinct entities.
So what does any of that mean for Star Trek? We don’t know...yet. But Variety points out that since Viacom acquired Pluto TV in January of this year, Pluto TV’s user base has increased by half to about 18 million. By comparison, CBS All Access has something like 4 million subscribers (a number which, it should be noted, is growing rapidly). Combining efforts with Pluto TV could create a significant new income stream for CBS’s streaming-only shows, including Star Trek. Which, in turn, could mean Star Trek, without the subscription.
Pluto TV is a totally free, ad-supported service that’s available through your web browser, as an app in the major app stores, and on selected smart TVs. Just a reminder: the ViacomCBS merger is now expected to be finalized in early December, so expect more details about the combined entity’s streaming strategy over the coming months.
