Paramount Global

’s

PARA

ad-supported streaming service Pluto TV continues its international rollout with the launch of the service in Canada through a partnership with Toronto-based Corus Entertainment, which has a large library of food and lifestyle programming and operates Global News.

The service will feature 110 themed linear FAST (free, ad-supported) channels, including some built around durable Paramount franchises such as

CSI, NCIS,

and

South Park

, as well as 20,000 hours of on-demand programming.

The Canadian version of Pluto will also have some Canuck-centric features, including more than 30 channels of local content. That batch includes  six Home & DIY channels, four Food channels, and news and opinion programming from Global News, focused on more than a dozen of cities and provinces.

Local programming includes series such as

Love It or List It, Property Brothers, Bryan Inc., Border Security,

and

Chopped Canada

. It also includes a series of French-language channels that serve particularly the audiences in Quebec. Those channels include Dora TV FR, Tortues Ninja TV, South FR, Doctor Who FR, Degrassi FR, Alerte a Malibu, and Les Nouveaux Detectives.

All children’s channels on PlutoTV Canada are ad-supported, which will be sold by Corus and licensed by Toronto-based advertising provider ThinkTV. Corus already serves the Canadian children’s advertising market with linear channels, such as Teletoon and YTV.

Strength in Pluto TV to Aid Global Subscriber Base

Pluto, which was launched in 2013, is already distributed in about 30 countries and territories, including the United States, Latin America, Central Europe and the Nordic countries of Europe. The service has a vast programming lineup that features more than 70 unique and locally curated channels, which are now live in each country. This is expected to boost the streamer’s global monthly active users (MAU) in the near term.

In the third quarter 2022, Pluto TV maintained its lead as the #1 free ad-supported streaming tv service in the U.S. Pluto TV’s global MAUs increased to nearly 72 million. Pluto TV’s total global viewing hours grew by strong double-digits year over year.

The platform has gained immense popularity with more than 250 live events, linear channels and thousands of hours of on-demand content. Pluto TV partners with more than 175 content providers, including media houses, film and TV studios that help it produce various content.

International Expansion Builds Strength for Paramount

Among other factors, the company’s constant efforts to expand the availability of its streaming services internationally are noteworthy. Beyond Europe, Paramount is gearing up for an India launch for Paramount+ in 2023. The company’s FAST service Pluto TV is also making international waves, recently turning up in the Nordics followed by Canada.

However, Paramount is facing significant competition in the streaming market from

Netflix


NFLX

,

Disney


DIS

and

Apple

’s

AAPL

Apple TV+.

Since the launch of Apple TV+, several Apple original series and films have earned more than 240 awards and 950 nominations, including the acclaimed SAG Awards, Primetime Emmy Awards and Critics Choice Awards. These accolades are catching viewers’ attention and helping it to win market share from Netflix and Disney.

Both Netflix and Disney are set to launch their ad-tier subscriptions by the end of this year. These low-cost subscription plans are expected to further increase competition for Paramount.

Paramount shares have outperformed Disney and Netflix on a year-to-date basis, while underperforming Apple.

This Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) company has lost 36.5% of its shares year to date compared with the Zacks

Consumer Discretionary

space, which fell 35.2% in the same period.

While Apple shares are down 15.4%, Disney and Netflix have dropped 37.9% and 52.4%, respectively.

You can see

the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here

.

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