CNN Launches Channel on Pluto TV Free Streaming Service

By Todd Spangler

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – programming is coming to Pluto TV, Viacom’s free streaming TV service, on a dedicated channel launching for users in the U.S. Tuesday.

To be clear, however, it’s not CNN’s live broadcast feed — that’s available only to pay-TV customers on traditional cable or satellite services, and via authenticated access on the web and mobile apps.

On Pluto TV, the CNN channel will comprise a curated playlist of short-form digital content from CNN’s anchors and reporters. The programming will be focused on lifestyle and culture, climate change, and the environment, along with original CNN investigations and interviews.

Pluto TV, which bought for $340 million earlier this year, delivers content in a TV-style grid layout to mimic a live television schedule (and also offers content on-demand). Other news content partners on Pluto TV include CBSN, NBC News, Bloomberg Television, Cheddar News, TYT Network, WeatherNation, Today’s Top Story, News 24/7, NewsmaxTV, Top Stories by Newsy, RT America, and Sky News.

Meanwhile, CNN also broadly distributes content across free-to-access digital platforms. Those include CNN.com and the CNN iOS and Android mobile app; social media services Facebook (and Facebook Watch), Twitter and Instagram; and Amazon Alexa voice-enabled devices. The network’s CNNgois streaming news experience provides the live CNN broadcast (available to authenticated pay-TV subscribers) and original programming on CNN.com, mobile apps and on Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, and Samsung smart TVs.

“At a time when news cycles are never-ending, in a world that is constantly evolving, CNN’s coveted daily reporting and in-depth features are perfect for our audience to be informed, with immediacy, accuracy and ease,” commented Amy Kuessner, Pluto TV’s senior VP of content partnerships. “Pluto TV’s mission to ‘entertain the planet’ also means informing the planet of what is going on in the world, and there is no better partner than the most trusted name in news.”

Pluto TV touts over 15 million unique monthly active users, mostly in the U.S. That’s up from 12 million in January 2019, when Viacom announced the deal to buy Pluto TV.