The following excerpt was sent out from The Hollywood Reporter:
Paramount Global will combine its free streaming services Pluto TV and My5, the video-on-demand service of British broadcaster Channel 5, in the U.K. next year.
The entertainment conglomerate said on Wednesday that the move will bring together broadcast video-on-demand (BVOD) service My5 “with its leading FAST service Pluto TV to bring audiences in the U.K. a supersized, free streaming service in 2024.” It called the U.K. a “critical market.”
The launch is planned for the second half of next year. “Further details on the brand and product will be announced in early 2024,” Paramount said on Wednesday.
However, it promised “an extensive range of new, exclusive and archived content from Channel 5, as well as an extensive on-demand section and an outstanding collection of curated FAST channels from Pluto TV.” And it highlighted: “The product, which will leverage Pluto TV’s best-in-class technology platform, will combine BVOD, FAST, AVOD and live TV all at once, allowing audiences to lean back, lean forward, catch up and watch their favorite shows live.”
Paramount emphasized that the broadened combined streamer will be created after Channel 5 managed to grow its share of the U.K. TV audience over the last four years and My5 has grown its viewing over the last three years.
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