Pluto TV is an online TV service with more than six million subscribers. It's one of the biggest ad-supported online TV services available right now. Pluto TV distributes more than 100 live TV channels from news, cooking and sports to kids' entertainment channels for free.
Samsung has announced a $5 million investment in the Los Angeles-based Pluto TV. The funding has been provided by Samsung Venture Investment Corp., a division of the South Korean conglomerate.
Investing In An Online TV Service
Samsung's investment in Pluto TV will allow the company to package an online TV service for its products such as smartphones and TVs. Samsung is a leader in both the smartphone and smart TV markets so having a packaged online TV service does make sense for the company.
Pluto TV offers its ad-supported free online TV service through apps for a variety of platforms. The app is available for Android and iOS devices. There are no subscription fees but viewers have to put up with ads.
“Pluto TV is the leading free Internet TV service in America and we see huge potential for the company as they scale their cutting edge offering to viewers around the world,” said Jihong Kim, a senior investment manager with Samsung Venture Investment Corporation.
It remains to be seen when this packaged TV service is going to arrive on Samsung products. It's likely going to be limited to customers in the US.
