Viacom is in the process of launching 13 new “channels” on its recently acquired Pluto TV streaming platform, building them out of themes and hit series.
On July 29, the conglomerate launched Yo! MTV, a new music channel on the ad-supported streaming service that delivers a curated collection of “the latest and greatest” hip-hip tunes, intend to “get the party started” with “the hottest rap, R&B, and Latin artists. Also launched was MTV Biggest Pop, a similarly structured offering featuring dance music, and MTV Spankin’ New, which features emerging artists.
In August, Pluto TV will launch Comedy Central Roasts, which will feature archival “Roast” specials of celebrities including Justin Bieber, James Franco, Rob Lowe and Bob Saget. Also coming this month is TV Land Sitcoms, a curated collection of repeats that made the TV Land cable channel a destination in the first place.
Related: Viacom to Launch Nick, MTV, BET and Other Channels on Pluto TV
Pluto TV was purchased by Viacom in January for $340 million. Viacom announced in April the addition of limited editions of its flagship channels—BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and Nick Jr.—to the AVOD platform.
“With this new slate of Viacom channels, Pluto TV continues to deliver on the promise of extending iconic Viacom brands and content to a growing streaming audience,” said Tom Ryan, CEO and Co-Founder Pluto TV. “We saw an incredible response to the Viacom channels we launched earlier this year and are excited to be able to expand the offering with even more programming and events including the revival of music videos on streaming television with the launch of the first three of many MTV-branded music video channels.”
Viacom is looking to split the lentil of its cable programming assets into what it’s calling “pop-up channels,” and in the words of its announcement today, “bring to life memories of year’s past and the best of what’s ahead.
As Viacom looks to recreate MTV, Comedy Central and the rest of its brands as relative factors for digital age consumers, it’s recombining corporately with CBS, which has its own subscription supported streaming platform in CBS All Access.
It will be interesting, of course, to see if Viacom chief executive Bob Bakish will also give water to a streaming platform that was gestated under the watch of former CBS Corp. boss Les Moonves.
