Paramount has announced plans to combine My5 with Pluto TV, creating a single advertising-supported platform for the UK market.
The single product would include popular local content from Channel 5, a deep archive of on-demand, curated FAST channels from Pluto TV, and a new user experience spanning BVOD, FAST, AVOD, and Live TV.
“We’re proud of the huge success and growth in viewing that we have seen on our BVOD service, My5.??As we look ahead to an IP-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,”?said Maria Kyriacou, President, Broadcast & Studios, Paramount International Markets.
The combined service will go live during the second half of 2024.
“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, EVP 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.”
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 – thanks to hit shows like Dalgleish, All Creatures Great and Small (pictured), Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild, The Yorkshire Vet and Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly.
Pluto TV is the pioneer of the FAST industry and the most widely distributed FAST service worldwide with more than 2000 channels globally from over 425 content partners.
