Pluto TV is one of the largest and best-known free ad-supported streaming services. Now, according to a report from a Streaming Media Blog, Pluto TV is reportedly being considered for a possible sale, and talks have happened to sell the company back to Tom Ryan, one of the original co-founders of Pluto TV.
The talks started before the Skydance Deal was announced and would need approval of Skydance but is reportedly still on the table.
Viacom bought Pluto TV back in 2019 for $340 million. Now the company reportedly brings in over $1 billion in revenue in 2021 and was profitable but as the Streaming Media Blog points out its according to Paramount’s SEC filing sit is not profitable.
Pluto TV’s value, though, is in its access to Paramount content. Without that, Pluto TV is far less profitable. However, it is possible that Paramount could sell access to Paramount content to Pluto TV’s new owners.
For now, it is unclear if the Skydance management team would like to sell or keep Pluto TV.
Recently, several major free ad-supported streaming services, including Redbox, have shut down or been sold. Other services like Crackle are reportedly going to shut down later this year unless new owners buy them before their parent company finishes their liquidation.
Free ad-supported streaming is one of the fastest growing areas in streaming, but there is a huge number of companies trying to get in on the free ad-supported market. This includes paid services like Sling TV, Philo, and Fubo launching free ad-supported versions.
Tom Ryan is currently working for Paramount overseeing its streaming efforts. It is unknown what his role at Paramount would be if he bought back Pluto TV.