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Paramount will merge and relaunch its free online services in the UK next year to target the growing number of people relying on the internet for their TV.
The US media giant will combine broadcaster Channel 5’s video-on-demand platform My5 and a separate online TV service called Pluto TV that shows more than 150 online single-show or single-genre “channels” in 2024.
Maria Kyriacou, president for broadcast and studios at Paramount International Markets, said the move would reflect a “sizeable” technology investment by the US group, which acquired Channel 5 a decade ago.
The decision to bring together its free TV services “to create a new, better proposition” would better address an audience increasingly watching TV online, she said.
“More people are using IP platforms as their route to entertainment, and we want to make sure that we’re set up in the future to deliver to those audiences.”
Paramount also offers its subscription-based streaming service Paramount+ in the UK. The launch of its combined free online services comes as many of the larger streaming providers have seen a slowdown in subscriber numbers in the face of a cost of living crisis and increased competition.
However, the service will be advertising funded and free to air, meeting the group’s commitment to being a public-service broadcaster in the future.
It will offer viewers in the UK a range of exclusive and archived content from Channel 5 as well as on-demand shows and channels from Pluto TV. Further details on the brand and product will be announced in early 2024.
Kyriacou said the move would allow a better product for the consumer, as well as greater personalisation — such as recommendations for different shows to watch. “This becomes your first or second port of call when you’re looking for entertainment.”
Advertisers would have improved access to data to allow them to more effectively target their brand campaigns, she added.
Kyriacou said the platform would also seek to bring in TV shows from other providers as well as from Channel 5 and Paramount. “The vision for this is more content, better personalisation, better data-enabled advertising — you’re creating a real destination for the homes that go to IP first, which is an increasing percentage of the overall population.”
My5 went live in 2008 and shows Channel 5 programmes as well as those from Paramount via on-demand and catch-up services.
Channel 5 has increased its share of the UK television audience over each of the past four years, and My5’s audience has grown over the past three years on back of successful shows such as All Creatures Great and Small and The Yorkshire Vet.
Pluto is one of the growing number of YouTube-like “free ad-supported streaming television” (FAST) services that offer video content supported by ads that are similar to traditional linear TV channels but through the internet.
Kyriacou said the channel was continuing to commission more local content out of the UK despite being owned by a US studio — “the opposite of what most people would have thought we would do”.
She said: “We’ve got a strong presence in the UK. Channel 5 really grounds us in the local market place. It gives us something different to the other US majors. Paramount+ and Channel 5 sit very comfortably together the same way CBS and Paramount+ sit in the US.”
Olivier Jollet, general manager for Pluto TV, Paramount International Markets, described it as a “significant evolution for our free streaming business in this important market”.
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