This one doesn’t make a ton of sense to me. I’ve been sizing up FAST platforms with proprietary research for years and Pluto is consistently one of the highest reach FAST platforms in the market today.
My latest data puts it in fourth place achieving an audience reach of 25%. That’s just under Roku Channel, Tubi and the King of free streaming TV, YouTube.
Not only is Pluto a great service with fantastic content, they pretty much defined the FAST industry, zigging with a linear streaming feed when everyone else was zagging in on-demand land.
After a bit of research, I’m even more confused.
Here’s what was said on their recent quarterly call.
“Now turning to Pluto TV, the service delivered its highest consumption ever with global viewing time up 26% year-over-year. Now monetization has been softer than expected due to the influx of supply. We anticipate supply demand dynamics will stabilize over time and the continued increases in engagement on Paramount+ and Pluto will lead to improved monetization over time. As we integrate BET Plus, Pluto, and Paramount Plus into one tech stack, it is going to accelerate our ability to do the same upon closing with WBD. DTC ad monetization — Fill rates up in both Paramount Plus and Pluto, with an AI-powered product (Precision Plus) outperforming benchmarks and contributing to positive advertiser feedback.”
For those of you paying very close attention, Spencer Shanson, SVP of Pluto on the engineering side recently gave a talk at a conference in Seattle, Buff Con, I believe it’s called, and there presented some seriously updated tech stack architectures for monetization.
I suppose that’s exactly what the earnings call quote is all about and it’s just further confirmation that now is not a good time to shut down Pluto.
All of which is to say this:
FAST is having a big moment right now, in my view. Last month Moffett Nathanson took to CNBC to ask Netflix to build a FAST channel. This month?
The Justice Department decided FAST platforms are good for consumers.
I suppose this is what we call a win win?
