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Roku Channel adds ViacomCBS-branded streams from Pluto TV

Streaming platform Roku has rolled out several ViacomCBS-branded streams to its native Roku Channel TV service thanks to a new partnership forged with Pluto TV.

The channels appeared this week and include Comedy Central on Pluto TV, BET Pluto TV, MTV Pluto TV and a few others.

The streams are simulcasts of the same channels that are offered through Pluto TV’s free, ad-supported streaming service. Pluto TV was acquired by ViacomCBS in 2018.

News of the partnership was first reported Wednesday by the consumer blog Cord Cutters News.

Roku has been aggressively beefing up content offerings on its native Roku Channel app, a service that offers a mixture of free and premium content from third parties, including ABC News, CBS News, Showtime and Starz. The service allows customers to stream ad-supported, free content and purchase premium content from third parties, similar to Amazon’s Prime Video channels.

In addition to the Pluto TV streams, Roku added three digital-native news channels, including the newly-launched Black News Channel.

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys covers the business of broadcast and streaming TV, radio broadcasting, social media, technology and telecommunications. A journalist for over 15 years, Matthew previously worked at Thomson Reuters, KGO-TV in San Francisco, KTXL in Sacramento and McNaughton Newspapers. He received 9 California Journalism Awards between 2018 and 2020, and is a member of IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors).
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