Paramount is to combine Channel 5’s broadcast video-on-demand (BVOD) service My5 with its FAST service Pluto TV in the UK in 2024.
The Channel 5 and Pluto-owner said that the new advertising-supported free streaming destination will give viewers in the UK access to content from Channel 5 as well as a collection of curated FAST channels from Pluto TV.
The product will leverage Pluto TV’s technology platform, combining BVOD, FAST, AVOD and Live TV all at once.
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.
“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. 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,” said Maria Kyriacou, President, Broadcast & Studios, Paramount International Markets.
Olivier Jollet, EVP and General Manager Pluto TV, Paramount International Markets, described the move as: “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’s shows include Dalgleish, All Creatures Great And Small, Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild, The Yorkshire Vet and Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly.
Pluto TV 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, three classic series in the CSI Universe, MTV hits like Catfish and Teen Mum, 10 curated movie channels as well as factual hits like Channel 5’s Police Interceptors, Come Dine With Me, Homicide Hunter and Most Haunted.
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