Paramount’s FAST service Pluto TV launched in Canada today through a partnership with Toronto’s Corus Entertainment, and it’s bringing a big offering of kids content to market.
The app-based platform for TV, mobile and web includes 13 kids channels featuring content from Corus’s vast programming library. Each channel has a different brand or theme, with some focusing on just a single IP.
Nick Jr. Pluto TV offers Blue’s Clues and Wallykazam!; Nick Pluto TV features tween titles like iCarly and Victorious; and single-brand channel Totally Turtles will be a one-stop destination for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles content. And then there’s the pocket.watch channel, which streams videos from all of its popular YouTube brands.
Pluto TV’s ad-based service is mainly stocked with library content, making nostalgia (and the fact that it’s free) an important hook for attracting kids and family audiences, according to Katrina Kowalski, VP of content at Paramount+ and Pluto TV. “One of the key things is bringing recognizable brands and series into the service, so that people can either get back into something they loved once before, or even discover something new.”
“We’re certainly looking for more partners to expand the offering,” Kowalski adds, noting that the free-ranging nature of FAST service creates a lot of room to experiment. “For instance, one thing I’d really love to do is unlock a kids movie channel.”
FAST services are primarily defined by their ability to dynamically insert ads into a linear stream of digital-based programming. All the kids channels on PlutoTV Canada feature advertising, which will be sold by Corus and cleared by Toronto-based ad vendor thinkTV. Corus already serves the Canadian kids advertising market with linear channels like Teletoon and YTV.
One of the differences in advertising through FAST channels compared to linear TV is that it allows for more “granular” targeting, says Corus EVP and chief revenue officer Greg McLelland, noting that toys and movies are hot categories for marketers in the spend-heavy holiday season.