Pluto TV’s Newest Channel is Made for Marketers
Sep 24, 2019
The ad-supported streaming service delivers a new curated channel that’s all Advertising Week, all the time.
The streaming wars and what they mean for marketers is one of the primary topics of discussion at this year’s Advertising Week—which makes Pluto TV’s Advertising Week channel a very appropriate distraction during the inevitable waiting time between panels and parties.
On Monday, the free streaming service debuted a curated Advertising Week channel—channel 295—that’s programmed with event keynotes from industry leaders, exclusive interviews, and panel discussion highlights for the event’s nearly 100,000 attendees and Pluto TV’s more than 18 million monthly users. On-the-ground Pluto TV ambassadors will be walking the floor of AMC Lincoln Center and the channel will play on screens during Brand Innovators events at Viacom during the week. The channel will remain available on the Pluto TV platform through October 6.
The Advertising Week pop-up channel showcases Pluto TV’s ability to create custom channels, a feature that’s appealing to advertisers and publishers who want to reach fragmented and niche audiences. It’s also an example of the versatility of streaming TV, which can be programmed for optimal utility without the restrictions of traditional linear networks.
From idea to execution, the channel—which was created in partnership with Advertising Week—took about two weeks to develop and program. It marks is the first time a channel was created specifically for an on-stage event such as Advertising Week. The feed includes exclusive interviews with Pluto TV executives Harold Morgenstern, head of national sales, and Rich Calacci, chief revenue officer, and a library of past keynotes. The channel will also be refreshed daily with content from the previous day of Advertising Week.
An Ever-Expanding Channel Slate
Pluto TV has been expanding its programming slate this year. It now has a lineup of more than 200 channels and thousands of movies available on-demand. Since it was acquired by Viacom earlier this year, it launched the Pluto TV Latino vertical in the U.S. with 11 Spanish- and Portuguese-language channels.
As Amy Kuessner, SVP of content partnerships at Pluto TV, told Broadcasting & Cable earlier this month, “We have been making a concerted effort to grow and diversify our content offerings to better serve cultural audiences with content that they know, love, and relate to.”
That content includes pop-up channels like the Dora the Explorer one that launched ahead of the premiere of the film Dora and the Lost City of Gold in August, as well as genre channels focused on single series like The Hills and RuPaul’s Drag Race that enable fans to binge their favorite series.
As Pluto TV CEO Tom Ryan told Television Business International, “in many ways, we drew inspiration from the things cable TV had done right in terms of creating these interest-based channels that take the work out of entertainment for customers.”
And, because viewers can watch the curated content wherever they are on any device of their choice, the brand’s presence at industry events means only further solidifies its ability to be anywhere, at any time, with content tailored for the audience.
