Pluto TV is making a name for FAST platforms

The Future. While Paramount Global’s focus in streaming has been on Paramount+ (which is growing at a steady clip), its free ad-support streaming television (FAST) platform, Pluto TV, has quietly become a success story. The streamer is growing in users, engagement, and revenue. While FAST platforms still don’t command the buzz of premium options like Netflix and Disney+, a few choice original films or shows could rope in a whole new set of users — something Pluto TV doesn’t plan on doing now, but all of its competitors have begun investing in.

The new channel surfing
Pluto TV is ready for primetime, according to THR.

• During Paramount Global’s Q3 earnings call, the company shared that Pluto TV hit 72 million monthly active users.
• It’s on track to have 120 million by the top of 2025.
• The streamer already brings $1 billion a year in ad revenue.
• In September, it became the first FAST platform to enter the Nielsen Gauge, notching 1% of all TV viewership in the US that month.

All that growth was buoyed by what FAST is best at — making it easy to find, tune in, and binge long-running hit shows just as if you’d found a rerun playing on cable. These shows have a “high volume of content and self-contained episodes.”

Pluto TV has doubled down on these shows, creating dedicated channels for franchises like NCIS and CSI, and upcoming licensed content like Cheers and Star Trek.

Price points
Overall, FAST platforms like Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, Amazon Freevee, and Fox’s Tubi are growing… well… fast. A TiVo survey found that 22% of all American and Canadian viewing time in the second quarter of this year was now on these platforms, up from 10% in the fourth quarter of 2021.

And since ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global) purchased PlutoTV in 2019, the platform has become an integral part of the entertainment conglomerate’s streaming strategy. It gives audiences the opportunity to either go premium and pay for the ad-free Paramount+ experience, drop down to the lower-cost ad-supported tier, or cut out paying at all… while staying engaged in the ecosystem with PlutoTV. It’s a little something for everyone.