# Pluto TV
> FAST service · paramount global
- Profile type: Product
- Profile status: baseline
- Last updated: 2026-05-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Canonical URL: https://thestateofstreaming.com/products/pluto-tv/
- Also known as: Pluto, Pluto.tv
## Summary
Pluto TV is one of the largest free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services globally, originally launched in 2014 and acquired by Viacom in 2019 for $340 million. It is now a Paramount Skydance Corporation (NASDAQ: PSKY) subsidiary and reaches roughly 68.6 million US viewers across more than 425 channels, with a backend integration onto a unified Paramount+ technology stack scheduled for mid-2026.

## Product facts

- Category: FAST service
- Parent company: paramount global (https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/paramount-global/)
- Launched: 2014-03-31
- Ad model: Free ad-supported streaming TV with linear-style channel feeds; CPM-based programmatic plus direct-sold inventory, increasingly bundled into Paramount Advertising's unified ad stack alongside Paramount+.
- Pricing: Free; ad-supported. No subscription tier.


## Key facts

- Pluto TV launched its beta service on March 31, 2014, after being founded by Tom Ryan, Ilya Pozin and Nick Grouf in August 2013. — Wikipedia (Pluto TV): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto_TV
- Viacom (now Paramount Skydance) acquired Pluto TV on March 4, 2019 for $340 million in cash. — Wikipedia (Pluto TV): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto_TV
- Pluto TV reaches an estimated 68.6 million US viewers in 2026, ranking third among US FAST services behind The Roku Channel and Tubi. — eMarketer: https://www.emarketer.com/content/faq-on-fast--how-free-streaming-tv-reshaping-ad-market-2026
- Pluto TV carries approximately 425 channels in the US as of January 2, 2026, and is available in more than 30 countries across the Americas and Europe. — Wikipedia (Pluto TV): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto_TV
- Paramount's Q4 2025 DTC revenue from non-Paramount+ sources, primarily Pluto TV, declined 16% year-over-year on monetization headwinds; CEO David Ellison said engagement was up but Pluto had been 'under-invested in by the previous owners.' — TheWrap (Paramount Q4 2025 earnings): https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/paramount-earnings-q4-2025/
- By mid-2026, Paramount+, Pluto TV and BET+ will operate on a unified technology stack, with Paramount Chief Revenue Officer Jay Askinasi describing 'more investment going into Pluto right now than there has been in the last 10 years' and a 'complete evolution' of the platform underway. — TheWrap (Jay Askinasi interview): https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/paramount-chief-revenue-officer-jay-askinasi-interview/


## Related

- paramount global (Parent company (Paramount Skydance Corporation, NASDAQ: PSKY)) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/companies/paramount-global/
- fast free ad supported streaming tv (Category — pioneering FAST service) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/tech/fast-free-ad-supported-streaming-tv/
- paramount plus (Sibling streaming service inside Paramount Skydance Direct-to-Consumer; sharing a unified tech stack mid-2026) — https://thestateofstreaming.com/products/paramount-plus/


## External coverage

- Paramount Skydance: Pluto TV (official site) (https://pluto.tv/)
- Paramount: Pluto TV and the AVOD Opportunity for Advertisers (https://www.paramount.com/news/pluto-tv-and-the-avod-opportunity-for-advertisers)
- TheWrap: Paramount Revenue Chief Teases 'Complete Evolution' of Pluto (https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/paramount-chief-revenue-officer-jay-askinasi-interview/)
- eMarketer: FAQ on FAST: How free streaming TV is reshaping the ad market in 2026 (https://www.emarketer.com/content/faq-on-fast--how-free-streaming-tv-reshaping-ad-market-2026)
- 2026-02-25 — Paramount Investor Relations: Paramount Q4 and Full Year 2025 Financial Results (https://ir.paramount.com/news-releases/news-release-details/paramount-report-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2025-financial)

## Profile
Pluto TV is the FAST service that effectively defined the category. Founded in August 2013 by Tom Ryan, Ilya Pozin and Nick Grouf and launched in beta on March 31, 2014, it pioneered the model of bundling thousands of cataloged hours into linear, scheduled channels delivered free over the internet. Viacom acquired it in March 2019 for $340 million; six years and one Paramount-Skydance merger later, it sits inside the Paramount Skydance Direct-to-Consumer division alongside Paramount+ and BET+.

The tension on the page today is that engagement is rising while revenue is not. Paramount's Q4 2025 results disclosed a 16% year-over-year revenue decline in the non-Paramount+ DTC bucket — primarily Pluto — even as CEO David Ellison called Pluto "a profitable platform" that had been "under-invested in by the previous owners." Chief Revenue Officer Jay Askinasi has framed the response as a "complete evolution," and Paramount has committed to merging Paramount+, Pluto TV and BET+ onto a single unified tech stack by mid-2026, with a new performance-advertising product called Precision+ riding on top of the consolidated identity layer.

For ad buyers, the read is that Pluto's reach (roughly 68.6 million US viewers in 2026, ~425 US channels, more than 30 country footprint) is no longer the question; whether the unified Paramount stack can lift Pluto's CPMs and fill rates back in line with its audience scale is.
## Coverage on The State of Streaming
- [Paramount Skydance Pays Ellison and Outgoing President $124M as WBD Holders Reject Zaslav Parachute](https://thestateofstreaming.com/business-deals/2026/04/wbd-paramount-merger-followups/) — 2026-04-26
- [Paramount Opens 2026 Upfront With Roku, Amazon Ad-Sales Hires](https://thestateofstreaming.com/advertising-adtech/2026/04/paramount-askinasi-upfront-strategy/) — 2026-04-25
- [WBD Shareholders Approve Paramount Merger 99% to 1%](https://thestateofstreaming.com/business-deals/2026/04/wbd-paramount-shareholder-vote/) — 2026-04-25

## Tags

- fast
- avod
- paramount
- streaming
- ad-supported
- ctv

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